Finding The Courage To Walk Away From What’s Not Working With Diana Stobo

This is the transcript of an interview hosted on Ruth’s Feel Better. Live Free. podcast.

Ruth Soukup: Have you ever felt trapped? Maybe it’s a job you hate or a relationship you just can’t walk away from. Maybe it’s a business you’re no longer passionate about. Maybe it’s a pattern of unhealthy habits you can’t seem to break, but whatever it is, it feels impossible to change. You don’t see a way out.

It’s not a good feeling, is it? In fact, it can be downright terrifying. But what if I told you that you might already have the solution, you’re just too afraid to see it right now. And today’s episode might just give you the courage that you need.

Welcome to the feel better, live free podcast brought to you by Thinlicious. I’m your host, Ruth Soukup, and here we’ll talk about everything from the science of weight loss to practical tips for making your health a priority in the midst of a busy life. It’s a little bit nerdy, a little bit funny, and a little bit revolutionary.

So buckle up, friend. Because it’s about to get real.

Hey there. Live free podcast. Those of you who don’t know me, my name is Ruth Soukup and I’m the founder of Thinlicious and the creator of the Thin Adapted System, as well as the New York Times bestselling author of seven books, and today we are chatting with Diana Stobo, who is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and a health pioneer after a hundred pound weight loss and a profound health journey of her own, Diana founded The Retreat Costa Rica, a renowned wellness sanctuary.

And as a celebrated wellness expert and the creator of the Truth Bar, Diana is known globally for blending food as medicine with holistic practices, including the principles of quantum physics and the law of attraction. And I thought that is what we were going to be talking about today. But our conversation actually took an unexpected turn to a topic that I think almost every woman can relate to at some point.

This idea of finding the courage to walk away when something’s just not working in your life. It’s actually a very powerful conversation, and I honestly can’t wait for you to dig in. And so without further ado, I am so excited to be able to introduce you to today’s podcast interview guest, Diana Stobo.

Diana, thank you so much for being here today. I’m so excited to talk to you. Me too. Awesome. So why don’t we just start with like the background, who you are, what you do and how you got to be doing what you are now? 

Diana Stobo: I’m not even sure what I’m doing right now, but okay. So, well I was very sick at around 35 years old and I healed myself through food.

And along my journey, I lost a hundred pounds and I, ended up writing a book about my journey to losing weight and discovered, what were the mechanisms that made me lose weight. So I wrote, get naked fast. It was a guide to stripping away the foods that weigh you down and the bestseller and it started.

Yeah. And I started, well, the idea of get naked fast was. I wanted to feel good in my body naked wasn’t so much how I looked, you know, of course, we all want to look good, but it wasn’t so much how I looked. It says you could always feel that excess on you. And when you feel excess on you, it’s toxic, 

Ruth Soukup: right?

Diana Stobo: So we need to get rid of the toxins that are causing us, you know, grief. Now, sure. We look at the scale, but that’s not really a good, you know, Brown. Parameter, whatever parameter, good way of looking at what your body is going through. And I just wanted to feel good in my body naked. I wanted to go into the shower without hiding from the mirror.

So that’s where getting AcuFast came from. And it’s actually, it’s about stripping away the foods away that weigh you down. Dairy, meat, sugar, wheat, caffeine, and alcohol. All of those seem to have a inflammation, inflammatory response. Anyway. Best seller, did very well with that and started speaking and doing television.

And I was an influencer before there were influencers in this field. And somewhere along the line, I ended up creating a nutrition bar called Truth Bar, which is a pre and probiotic bar and also building The Retreat Costa Rica, which is now, a destination spa number six in the world. 

Ruth Soukup: Wow. 

Diana Stobo: Yeah, so Thank you.

I mean, it’s, it’s, that’s a passion project and it’s been, it feeds me every day. I was just down there in Costa Rica and I get stopped by, I’m thinking, who does this? Most people complain, you know, most people throw out their complaints, but to really hunt me down and say, are you the owner? Thank you so much for creating this magical place.

I’ve been all over the world and I’ve never felt. something like this, and I’m going to be back again and again and again. And it makes me want to cry when I’m there and I hear that I’m actually affecting people. And we are primarily women, although more and more men are coming for their own healing journeys.

And we do have like a 75 I think it’s like 75 percent return rate, 80 percent now. So we get people who come back time and time again, it feels like home to them. And they just get to come back and regenerate and, you know, focus on their eating and feeling good. And then they take it home with them and they’re like, okay, I need another reboot and they go back.

Ruth Soukup: So how does it work? Is it like a traditional spa where you just go for and can do any treatments that you want? Or is it more like you go for a week of prescribed programming or a little bit of both? 

Diana Stobo: Both, both. Actually, when I built it, it’s called The Retreat Costa Rica. And the idea was People don’t want to go on a retreat for a week or have to follow a certain person or go on that particular week that it was assigned.

They want it 24 7, 365 days a year. So, you get the retreat experience. You get yoga twice a day. You get, hiking. You get your anti inflammatory meals. You get your spa treatments at your own pace, whether you go for 3 days or 21 days or whatever. So it’s kind of nice. and you can, you can do a focus package like fitness reboot or Ayurveda or menopause or whatever suits you or your need.

Emotional healing is a big one that people use. And we have all the facilitators. and a specialist at the hotel that makes sure that you have a results driven, you know, 

Ruth Soukup: Ooh, that’s amazing. So like they sit down with you when you get there and talk about your goals and help you to kind of set your schedule and all that kind of stuff, depending on how do I set up for this?

Cause I’m like, 

Diana Stobo: I can, I will go. What’s really nice is that it’s, it’s, it’s quaint, it’s small and boutique. And so. Someone like you might show up and meet someone like me. And next thing, you know, we’re having dinner together and we, we, we build a friendship and we all know that community, especially among women is, is a longevity piece.

So having that is a, is a beautiful, I love, I actually created long tables because we have the two, two, twos, and then we have this long table because people do say, Hey. I met you at yoga. Do you wanna have dinner with me tonight? And next thing you know, you’ve got this big group at the long table that are all retreating together.

And it’s so lovely. 

Ruth Soukup: That sounds amazing. That sounds amazing. how, so when did you found this place? So I started building 

Diana Stobo: it in 2013. So I guess we’re 12 years from that, but we’re officially open, nine years now. 

Ruth Soukup: That’s amazing. And how many people does it hold? 

Diana Stobo: Well, we have 18 rooms right now, but as of June 1st, we’ll have 28.

Ruth Soukup: Oh, wow. 

Diana Stobo: Expanding. That’s exciting. We, we, I, I, I hate turning people away. I just, I, when I, when I say we’re booked, I’m like, oh, it kills me. So we’re making room for more because people love it and more and more people need to come because the experience and the results are so great. 

Ruth Soukup: That sounds amazing.

That truly does. So you’re this, I mean, this ties right into what I wanted to talk about, which is rest. And you’re, you’ve been doing a lot of work on rest and the importance of rest. And it sounds like you’re not just like talking about it. You’re actually creating this. So what, how do you, how do you even define rest?

Because I think sometimes it can be a buzzword or it can be a little oversimplified, but what does intentional rest really mean to you? 

Diana Stobo: Wow, you know what? That’s a really, it’s not only a great question. It’s so timely right now for me. I actually turned 60 in March and I’m kind of at a place where I’m like, I want to rest.

I’m tired. And I was thinking, what does that mean? Well, physically, I still have the energy. So I think it’s about the mental fortitude. I really think it’s, it’s a mind thing. It’s like, when can I stop worrying or, you know, striving or pushing? And how about if I just, I’m Allow myself to be in the moment right now.

And I know you hear that it’s everything’s in the moment. Yeah, but how do you live that way? How do you live, without clearing up the past and looking at the future and being in the moment. And it really is, it’s quite a practice. And I think I might have. So rest for me is like just letting the, the mind calm down and say, Hey, this is it.

Look at everything you’ve accomplished and just enjoy it for a while and ensure you can plan a trip or you can plan a next project or something, but don’t get yourself wrapped up because the adrenaline and the cortisol. That kicks in when you start, you know, right, we get excited. We’re like, Oh, and then you think about all the things you have to do to get there.

I mean, even a recipe, like, Oh my gosh, I saw a recipe. I got to go to the store. I got to get, I got to find that. And then our minds kind of go wacko. Right? So I’m starting to understand that whole thing. Do less. Do less. Do you really need to do that recipe? I mean that’s kind of a mind thing for me and I’m a project person so I get super excited and I get super jacked up and next thing you know I’ve got, you know, five bags of groceries and a mess in the kitchen and I’m using the recipe as an example and then I think, why am I doing this to myself?

Yeah. Does it really matter? And so I think that’s for me, rest is that it’s not just about putting your feet up or laying in bed and getting a good night’s sleep. It’s literally about calming the mind and just found ways to do that. Well, again, I think it’s just years of practice and trying so hard and all of a sudden going, Oh, I think I might, I think I might get it now.

I think I get it. Yeah. You know, it’s funny. It’s, it’s, it’s based on your nervous system. For me, it’s about how much we’ve jacked up our nervous system. Like, it’s very simple for me to grab my phone and start scrolling on the internet. That doesn’t rest my mind. Right. Have you ever noticed that? Have you ever done it?

You’re like an addict. You’re like an addict. And then you’re like, why am I doing this? I’m not even enjoying it. I’m literally using up my eyes and my mind to look at nonsense. 

Ruth Soukup: Yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, I just did a 21 days of prayer and fasting with my church. And so the thing that I chose to fast was news, like, because I’m, I’m not a social media scroller.

I’m a news junkie and I love, I have all my websites and I’m constantly, and I realize like how often I just mindlessly grab it to see like, what are the latest headlines, you 

Diana Stobo: know? Somehow it’s like an 

Ruth Soukup: addiction. Like 

Diana Stobo: it’s filling the void. Right. I know. And I’m like, you know what, I find myself now going, does anybody, has anybody seen my phone and hours have gone by and I haven’t touched it.

And I’m like, Oh, there’s messages. Oh, look at that. That that’s one way. The second thing is, gotta have the, the gotta have moments like, Oh God, that’s like an outfit or recipe as you see it. And the more it’s in front of you, you’ve got to have it. Right. And I go, yep, I don’t. And I literally tell myself that’s just more stuff, more stuff causes more energy to hold that stuff.

So I literally say, and this shit too shall pass and I’ll use it as a, I love clothes. I’m a, I’m a secret clothes horse and I see clothes and I want to buy that. And I want to buy that. And I want to buy that. And then I get them and I’m like, I don’t ever wear them because I, cause where are you going to go?

And so I look at my closet. I’m like, wow, I had to have that so badly. And now it’s sitting in my closet, taking up energy. 

Ruth Soukup: Like, you 

Diana Stobo: know, My day to day clothing is pretty mundane, pretty boring. So, just stick with the basics and every once in a blue moon buy yourself a little special treat. But come on Diana, get over it.

It’s literally talking myself out of more and, and, and creating a little bit less in my life. And I think that, that calms me down a little bit. 

Ruth Soukup: That’s interesting that you would say that because that’s, I actually, I recorded a podcast about this, the beginning of the year where I talked about like my goals for the year and my, what I really like, what I crave this year.

Right. Like, and you’re probably the same way you obviously have written books, own businesses, you’re clearly driven and motivated and doing all this stuff. And I’m same way. Right. And I never had a year in the 15 years of owning my business that I haven’t had like. These huge goals and all this stuff that I want to do and things that I want to accomplish.

Right. And this year I’m like, no, I like my heart was just calling me to exactly what you’re talking about. So my word for the year is restore. And I cut way back on working hours, which was terrifying. And to like, stop working on Mondays, stop working on Fridays, go to just three days a week. And, blocked out big vacations.

We have six weddings. So that was easy to find to them, to know what I needed to block out all the vacations for the year. but, but I have now it’s been a month since beginning of the year. Right. So I’m on this new schedule, trying to like reconcile it when you are such, when you are so used to. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

Got to have a list. Got to have a thing. Got to have all the stuff that like occupies you exactly like you’re talking about your brain. And to just go, it’s okay. I can just sit here and not do things all the time. And it is, it’s definitely an adjustment. I think it’s good that I planned it for the whole year because it’s good.

It’s probably going to take me months to actually be able to. To get to a point where I can just be, because that’s not my personality. 

Diana Stobo: When you ask me, how do you get there? I’m going to ask you, how do you get there? I mean, is it like a little band? You guys, every time you think you want something to snap, nope.

You know, how do you train your mind to completely let go? And I think it’s just, it’s like anything that you, you know, it’s discipline, right? You have to discipline your mind. It’s like drama, you know, there’s other people’s drama. I don’t have any drama of my own, but I sure do take on other people’s drama.

I stopped that a few years ago. It’s like, it sounds like a problem. If I can help you move forward. I’m here for you, but I don’t want to hear regurgitation of the same story over and over again, because that’s just drama. Right. Yeah. Help yourself or you don’t. And so you, you gotta be disciplined and it’s, discipline takes discipline.

Ruth Soukup: Yeah, it has been for, for me, it’s been more just a reminding myself, like it’s okay, it’s okay, like. To do things, it’s okay to sit and not do things and of having to consciously to, to consciously like, no, it’s, it’s fine. And then also like letting go of work stuff and going, no, my team is very capable.

They have this. I don’t need to, I don’t need to jump into their conversation right now. And yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s not a one and done. You can’t, it’s hard to flip the switch, but that’s what I’m finding is. Constant reminding myself. 

Diana Stobo: 2024 I had, I healed some really serious trauma, not on purpose. It’s like, it was just a line for me.

And, you know, we all have trauma, which got, it kind of directs us. So, you know, I’ve learned a lot about myself. And so in 2024, I. I always had, I, I’m, I’m, I’m the oldest daughter of a Persian father who never thought that women were worth anything. And you know, sadly it’s true. And so, but I came out pretty strong.

And so anytime I showed some signs of being a strong woman, I was labeled as a bitch or, you know, problematic. Trouble maker or crazy or something and so I spent my whole life and then I married a man who kind of had that same very patriarchal way and so, and then I have, you know, two boys and I, I can’t say both of them, but one has that view like when my, her, his father and I divorced, he said, well, you, you have two cars and, you know, two cars and two houses.

What, what, like what, what, why are you not happy? And I thought, wow, yeah. Interesting that my, it trickles down into this. So, I was faced with a situation with my ex husband who I still to this day love and adore very much and, but didn’t heal the wound. And something just happened, I don’t, I can’t put my name on it, label on it, but all of a sudden I realized he saw me.

And in turn, I saw him. It was weird. It was like we went back to when we first met and all that trauma that we shared went away. And then same thing with my father. My father came down to my hotel and was just, he never, he doesn’t know anything about me. He didn’t know. And he came down and he was blown away at what I achieved.

And of course my father being the wonderful narcissist that he is, he goes, you’re just like me. And so he no longer looked at me as a woman and all those bad things. He actually looked at me as a, as a person that. has done success and has the same ambition that he had and et cetera. And I also saw his trauma.

And then of course, the same thing happened with my son around Thanksgiving. And I was like, did that just happen? Did I just heal all my men wounds this year? And that, that brought me to a place where I was like, I’m okay now. I don’t have anything to prove. I don’t have anything to push forward. I don’t need any recognition from outside sources.

And suddenly I was like, Oh, it’s weird. It’s weird and eerie, but I like it. 

Ruth Soukup: Yeah. Yeah, no, I actually can relate a lot to that of having like a very successful yet sort of. Dismissive of women father, right? Who’s never like, it’s never been good enough. And I think a lot of that, like, it’s so the, the constant needing to achieve, needing to prove myself and maybe, and I don’t know if I like have a moment where I feel like it was healed, but I don’t feel like I really care what his opinion of me.

And maybe that has like freed me up. It’s okay. To not have to earn his. Respect like it’s okay. Yeah. Interesting.

Diana Stobo: I’m actually closing a business. I made the decision yesterday. I have, I have three companies and I’m closing one of them. And one of them was because I realized that I don’t, I don’t let go easily.

And I don’t like failure. I don’t like anything to not, you know, I don’t like to not give anything my all. And I was sitting there thinking, okay, I’m turning 60. I’m okay with who I am now. And this is really just a push forward business. It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s successful in a way, but is it really feeding my soul?

I think it was a huge decision. It was really, I was very wobbly and when I made it the last 24 hours, I’m like. I’m feeling good about it. I’m really feeling a huge amount of relief. Like, wow, do I get to actually have some golden years where I’m not climbing uphill or pushing a rock and, you know, making things happen?

Wow. 

Ruth Soukup: You just made this 

Diana Stobo: because 

Ruth Soukup: I, I had that same thing. I had also had three, three separate businesses. Now I have two because I made the same decision last year. And it was, I, everything that you’re saying is. That’s exactly how I felt like I’m holding onto this thing that I’m not really that passionate about anymore.

My heart’s not in it. And yet I, I feel like I can’t let it go because it was my first business and my one that everybody like knows me for, like, there’s so much ego that gets attached to it. And then I finally, and I probably for two years, right? Like I really wrestled, like, should I let it go? Not, no, no, no, no, no.

What do I do? Made the decision. And it was like a week. Off of my shoulders. And then it was done. And I was like, I’ve never looked back a year later. I’m like, that was the right decision. It’s amazing. I 

Diana Stobo: love that. That’s I mean, and that feeling and you look, you know, I, I, my dog passed away in August and it’s kind of like you’re, you’re watching something that you know, is going to end.

And you just have to make that decision. You know, I know sometimes people have to put their dogs down because they have to make the decision for the dog. I didn’t luckily, but you’re waiting going. Is it fair that I keep it alive? Is it fair? And I think that way about the business, I’m realizing there’s a little bit of a juxtaposition there where I felt that way about this business.

Sure. I can, you know, give it some vitamins and nurturing and it’s going to succeed. It may live a little longer. It may live forever. It may grow, but is it really going to have a good quality of life? 

Ruth Soukup: And 

Diana Stobo: that’s. Kind of why, and the question is, am I going to have a good quality of life? And so that’s why it 

Ruth Soukup: really comes down to, I mean, I think about like how many other parts of our life are like that, even if you, if we’re not talking about business, you’re just talking about like the things that we cling to, whether it’s the relationships or the job that we don’t, you know, like, there’s just so many things and you agonize over it, you agonize, what should I do?

What should I do? And then you finally. Finally make that call and go, Oh, I should have, I mean, just happened to my daughter this, this weekend, right? Like she, she’s a freshman in college. She picked, you know, picked her school. She was going to FSU. She’s at FSU for Florida state and. We can just tell like all year, she just hasn’t been like super enthusiastic about it.

Wasn’t loving it. And I, and she told us she was coming home again for the weekend. And I, and I told my husband, I’m like, I think we just like, need to have maybe a heart to heart with her of like, where she’s at, let her know, like, we’re here, whatever you decide to do. Because I could just tell she was like, Feeling trapped and like there was no option.

She’s already signed a lease for next year. She didn’t think she could get out of it. Like all these, you know, 18 year old problems that like feel insurmountable when you’re 18 and life feels so big. And, and then we kind of, you know, like let her know, like, yes. The lease is a problem, but problems can be solved.

Like there’s always a way to figure it out if this is what you want to do. And it was like the change in her. And then she just, she did, she came to us by the end of the weekend and said, she wants to transfer. And it was like, you could see the lightness. And I think like going into the weekend, she was so heavy.

And so like, there’s no solution for this. There’s no way out. And how often do we have that? Right. Even as adults, she’s not, she’s barely an adult. She’s like a baby adult, but I think so often we have, we feel so trapped, whether it’s health, like that’s another way. I mean, you’ve experienced that problem with your weight loss journey and health journey too.

And, and then all of a sudden you make the decision and you’re like, Oh, okay. This might not be easy, but now I have a path forward. 

Diana Stobo: I cannot tell you how much I resonate with that. I, I wanted to interrupt you 10 times. ’cause the same thing with my daughter. And three years ago, she, almost three years ago, she moved in with me.

She was out and she’s, she’s gonna be 32. We’re we’re partners now. We lived together and, and a house. She’s got one wing. I’ve got the other. 

Ruth Soukup: Oh, I love that. 

Diana Stobo: It great. And we work together. Um. on all the companies, but she was in New York and she was just trying to do what she thought she was supposed to do and everything was hard and she couldn’t afford to live there.

And, you know, and that was right after COVID. So things were like crazy over there and she was just unhappy and miserable. And I said, what are you doing? And she had this idea of the life that she was going to create for herself, but it wasn’t, wasn’t bringing her joy or peace. And I said, come live with me, work with me, and let’s.

You know, and she, she always told me, she goes, problem now is I, I, I have you all the time. I don’t think I need a partner. It’s like, I’d have liked to be alone and now I’m not. So it’s great. But we, we get along great and she’s so happy and she’s so at peace and she’s living and doing the things that she loves to do.

And I would told her at the time, I’ve got you. And I think doesn’t, don’t we all want to hear that? Don’t we all want to feel like I’ve got you like, don’t, I don’t want you to live your life worrying about. I don’t want you to live your life worrying about, you know, a relationship or when you’re going to have, I’ve got you, we’ll figure it out.

And since I’m more seasoned, she is, I mean, we know how to figure things out, but I was there and I think that forces you to make decisions that aren’t wise in the moment, right? When you, you know, sometimes I get like, there’s no escape. There’s somebody use this analogy once and it’s so true. I don’t like to make decisions with a gun to my head.

So true. Is it really the right decision for you? Or are you just like, I gotta choose something right now! And you gotta think it through, and really analyze how it’s gonna look. And that’s, for me, That gives me peace of mind. I think what you just said, you just calmed your nervous system of your daughter by, by giving her an out and helping her and lucky her that she has such great parents, right?

Not everybody has that. So we, we have to like really kind of play on our strengths here. 

Ruth Soukup: Well, it’s so funny. Cause I could so relate to what she was going through because when I, when I was, Actually first dating my husband, we, I, when we met, I was about to start law school and I was about to move cross country to go to law school.

We were living in Washington state. We moved to St. Louis. He quit his job after two months of dating, quit his job, moved cross country with me. Right. Cause he was like, this is my girl. I’m holding on to her, whatever I have to do. So he uproots his whole life. Then he buys a house in St. Louis. Cause I’m supposed to be there for four years.

I was not just doing law school. I was doing like a JD and MBA joint degree program and buys this house. And we’re I’m in law school and just hated it. I mean, now looking back, I understand why I’m not really a rule follower and law school is literally all rules. So that’s all it is do things exactly the way we tell you to do it.

Did not fit my personality. So miserable. I was so miserable and I just got progressively more miserable and I could see that same misery happening, happening for my daughter, right? Like just, and I was at the same time feeling so trapped because here I am. I just uprooted his whole life. Just uprooted my whole life.

Just took out 30, 000 in student loans. What like, I don’t quit. I’m not a quitter. This is not like, I don’t fail. I’m not going to fail at this. And yet like hated it so much. And I remember finally, like. Midway through the year, he went on this walk and all I was talking about was, Hey, I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.

I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. Right. Like, and that was the whole lock. Just not a 

Diana Stobo: good conversation to have with yourself. Right. 

Ruth Soukup: And he, and he finally like stops walking. He takes me by the shoulders and turns, turns me to him. And he goes, you know, you don’t have to do this, right? Like, you know, it’s okay to quit.

And I, it’s like that whole thing was exactly, I think what happened for my daughter this weekend of like, wait, it is permission, permission that it is okay to do something different. I’m like, but you just like ruined your whole life and bought a house and we have like, what are we going to do? And he’s like, we will figure it out.

We will figure all of this out. Don’t do something that you hate. And I went in the next day and the Dean of students, I still remember this, looked at me and she said, you know, normally I would try to talk somebody out of this. But this is the first time that I have seen you look happy all semester and you’re making the right decision.

And I, it was, it was like a complete transformation and it was, it’s, I mean, it sucked. I ended up with 30, 000 of student loans with nothing to show with it, show for it. We were stuck in St. Louis for three months trying to rehab this house so that we could actually sell like so many things. And yet we look back at the time and it was like so many good things came out of it too.

And it was so worth it. And I think. So many people are so afraid of making a mistake that they do, that they keep themselves trapped forever. I 

Diana Stobo: was thinking of this interview with Megan Fox. I heard her. I don’t know if you remember, I don’t know what show it was on and she was talking about relationships.

I guess she wrote a book and she said a wonderful quote. She says, you can’t be in love with the potential. Of a, and she was talking about a man. It can’t be the potential of a man. You have to be in love with the man because the potential is what you see and it never will become. And I think that we attach ourselves to things like getting this degree.

You’re in love with the potential of what you could be. And that’s, and I was in love with the potential of my company as it was growing and where it could get to. But then I realized, do I want to work that hard to get it there? And that’s what, you know, one of the guys said, he goes, do you have the appetite for it?

And I was , you know what? Sometimes you just don’t want to eat any more of it. And I just didn’t want to eat any more of it. And that’s how I made this decision to stop this business, but it’s the same thing with everything. Do you really have the potential and how, and if you are in love with the potential and you really can see it becoming exactly that, then put your all into it and your passion and energy and everything, as long as you have the appetite to see it through, you know?

Ruth Soukup: Yes. So the question is, how do you find the courage to choose the thing, right? To choose the thing that you do have the appetite for, that you are hungry for, or to admit to yourself, even if it means failing in some other piece of your life. 

Diana Stobo: Yeah. Another good question. You know, and I, I keep relating this to relationships today, and this is, you couldn’t have picked a perfect day to talk to me about this because it literally was a huge, I’ve had all these epiphanies today.

So when you’re, when you meet somebody, okay, and you, and you see potential and there’s, there’s some hits along there. You’re like, Oh God, I didn’t realize he has dirty, smelly stocks or I didn’t realize that he doesn’t make his bed or I didn’t realize whatever you start to see. Or I didn’t realize he has an attitude when you talk to him a certain way.

And you start looking at that and you go, but I’m still in. And so next thing, you know, that relationship went from six months to five years and next thing, you know, you’re 10 years down the road and then you’re 15 down your, and you’re like, I’m still in, I’m still passionate about this person with all its faults.

It’s the same thing with business. You get hit and you get hit and you get hit and you go, but I still love it. Like the retreat. I can’t tell you how many times I thought I can’t do this. And then something happened and I got re impassioned. I forgave. The problem and started getting excited again. And I think with, I think with, you know, my other company that I’m letting go of, I’m like, I think I’m just, I want to break up.

Yeah. I don’t have the passion to continue it anymore. There’s just too many negative qualities, too many red flags, and I don’t want it anymore. So. I don’t know if it’s courage or if it’s just kind of like, you just keep, it’s like every day you make that decision. Am I in? Am I in? Am I in? Am I excited? Am I happy?

Does this bring joy? And next thing you know, you’re 10 years into it. 

Ruth Soukup: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Every day. Right? Being willing to let go. Do you ever do like a worst case scenario thing? Always. Like, what does that look like for 

Diana Stobo: you? it’s funny. I, I, I literally said this yesterday. I always do the worst case scenario.

So worst case scenario. I look at, I look at the financial, I look at the emotional, I look at the lifestyle, I look at the, I look at everything and I go, what’s going to be different. And, and, and if this disappears, if this isn’t happening, if this isn’t working, what, what’s going to be different? And if it’s a, if it’s something I can live with, then the worst case scenario is done decision.

Yes. Yeah. If it’s something I can’t live with, then obviously I have to rethink it. Right. But more than often you can live with anything. 

Ruth Soukup: Pretty much. And sometimes when you allow that, that mental exercise, you realize like, Oh yeah. Any of these problems that I think are so big in my brain when I actually start to think about them, but I could overcome that one.

And this one isn’t that big of a deal or this one. It’s fine. It’s workable. Right? Like you start to go, Oh, there actually is, is a solution for this. My husband’s really good. Doing that. Like, cause I could, you know, everything is a catastrophe and I’m like, Oh, well, I don’t know what to do. Like I’ll, you know, high strung and then he’ll, he’ll be like, okay, well let’s talk about like, what’s the worst that would happen.

And all of a sudden he’ll walk me through it. And I’ll be like, Oh yeah, you’re right. It’s really not that bad. 

Diana Stobo: Okay. They’re logical, right? When I did, when I did separate, when I did leave my husband and I broke up, I was alone and he was the logic and I was the emotional. And it never was a definitely a juxtaposition of my left and right brain thinking.

And over the course of years, I did a test. It turns out they were like 49 and 51, because the more logical you become, you can actually train your brain to become more logical and, and let your emotions step aside. And I learned that. But, there was a great meditation I did because at that time I thought I was going to fall apart and die.

I really did. I didn’t think there was any hope for me in the world and I didn’t know what was going on and I was scared to breathe. I was alone all of a sudden. And, someone did a guided meditation and I was standing on top of a cliff. And I, in my meditation, I closed my eyes and I did I just jumped.

I just released myself and I jumped and they said, okay, okay. So where did you land? And I started chuckling and she’s like, where’d you land? Like, was it soft? Was it wet? What did it, was it hard? Like what happened? And I said, it was just a curb. The leap was just that big for me to land on my feet. But in my head, it was so high, it was way too high for me to jump and trust.

And that was, that was, that was a rude awakening. I’m like, Oh, I’m already here. 

Ruth Soukup: I love that. I love that. Well, Diana, this conversation was not at all what I expected today, but no, it was amazing actually. And it was so therapeutic. And I think, I feel like there’s so much. Wisdom and just talking about like the potential of letting go, like, like leaving that, leaving that the question is what are you, what are you clinging to right now in your life that you need to let go of and how do you find the courage to take that leap?

Cause it might just be a curb and, and I think. I love that. Yeah. I love that too. So final takeaways, what’s one big thing that we didn’t talk about that you want to leave with our listeners. And then of course, tell us all about how we can find your retreat center and you’ve got all these books and all these other things.

More, more wisdom from Diana. More 

Diana Stobo: wisdom from Diana. Well, this is what happens when you get old. honestly, I, I, I have nothing to say. If you want to find my eBooks, you can go to dianastobo.com. You can download anything. they’re very, cheap. but I highly suggest anybody who’s looking to kind of just bring to the surface that which needs to be healed to check out The Retreat Costa Rica, a place where you could just be held and nurtured and taken care of.

And it’ll catapult you to the next step. People forget that it’s just, you’re just, you’re just so close to making that huge transition that’ll make you happy, joyous, healthy. And so why not do it? 

Ruth Soukup: I love it. I love it. And of course we will link to that and your website and everything else in our show notes, Diana.

Thank you so much for joining me today. This was fantastic. Thank you. Same. All right, friends that about does it for this episode. Remember that you can find the link to Diana’s retreat center and. everything else that we talked about in this podcast in the show notes. And if you know someone else who might be interested in this topic, please, of course, be sure to send it their way.

Then be sure to subscribe to the podcast to be notified of future episodes. And I will see you back here for another new episode very soon.