Diane Bell [00:00:01]:
Hello, gorgeous soul. I'm Diane Bell, and this is the aim from the Heart podcast. Your weekly dose of tips, techniques, strategies, and inspiration to help you live a life beyond your wildest dreams. If you're ready to use the art of intentional manifestation to create more freedom, more joy, more abundance, and more bliss in your life, you are in the right place. S grab a cup of tea, pull up a chair, and let's have some fun. I am so glad you're here today. Let's do this. Hello, gorgeous soul, and welcome to this episode of my podcast, the unexpected plot twist.
Diane Bell [00:00:41]:
Oh, my, my. This is going to be a fun one. Oh. If you follow me on aim from the heart, you will have noticed that I've been a little bit quiet over the last couple of weeks. And that was partly. It was the end of the year. I traveled back to Scotland. Everyone was sick in my family.
Diane Bell [00:00:58]:
I hope you guys are doing well. I hope you're doing amazing. But in my family, everyone got the flu and was just like, really not well. And so there was a lot of me looking after other people and coughing myself all the time and also just turning inward. And I feel like the end of the year and the beginning of the year is really a time for introspection in a very powerful way. It's a time not so much for planting seeds or growing seeds, but for picking through our seeds and deciding which ones we desire to plant, which ones we want to grow in the season to come. And that's definitely what I've been doing over the last couple of weeks. I kept thinking in my head, I've got to record my podcast.
Diane Bell [00:01:38]:
I haven't recorded my podcast. And then somehow I'd be like, it's okay. You're meant to be silent right now. You're meant to be silent now. This episode of this podcast is very special because I'm going to be putting it out on two platforms on my old podcast, the shoot from the Heart podcast, as well as on my new one, aim from the heart. And the reason for this is quite simply a reflection of what's been going on in my life in this period of silence, in this period of looking through my seeds and deciding what I want to plant and where I want to go in 2024. And there has been an incredibly unexpected plot twist in my life. If you follow me, you will know that I am somebody who very much follows my heart.
Diane Bell [00:02:24]:
It's the name of both of my brands. Shoot from the heart and aim from the heart. And I just think my whole overriding message is live from your heart, and it's what I endeavor to do. Now, sometimes that means it's a little bit messy, sometimes it's a little illogical, and sometimes it's not a straight line. And very often it's not a straight line. Living from your head will probably get you more of a straight line, but I don't think it'll be half as much fun or half as authentic. So I always try to live from my heart. And last year, as you might know, I made the decision to actually stop the podcast shoot from the heart and to start the one aim from the heart.
Diane Bell [00:03:01]:
And I also made the decision at that moment to put a pause on actually creating programs that were screenwriting or filmmaking related, and instead really to focus on the ones about energetics, about manifestation, living your dream life, et cetera. And that felt good to me at the time. I was feeling like this, really. I was feeling a density, I was feeling a pressure, I was just not feeling great. And I felt like I was going through the motions. And I had to be honest about that. And I was, well, friends, the strangest thing has happened and I couldn't have predicted this. I don't think anyone could have predicted this.
Diane Bell [00:03:35]:
But in the last six months, I still continued to have my group, the network. And the network is my membership for screenwriters and filmmakers. I wasn't actively promoting it, I wasn't bringing in new members, but I was continuing to support the people who are in there. And if you're in the network, I just want to say I love you. You're amazing, and you just bring so much joy and happiness to my life. I love our calls, I love our conversations. Some of you I've been working with since the beginning of the network. So I think it's nearly two years.
Diane Bell [00:04:07]:
And watching you thrive, watching you grow, watching you expand, watching you face your challenges and overcome them, it's just an absolute delight. And seeing some of you have this extraordinary success, getting your scripts optioned, making your feature film, making your short films, all the things, finishing scripts. That's not to be belittled either. All the things. I'm just so proud of you, and it's really the honor of my life working with you. So at the end of the year, I was thinking, I was doing my reflection about what's working, what's not, and I was like, I love the network. I love working with screenwriters and filmmakers. At the same time.
Diane Bell [00:04:48]:
I've been thinking a lot about what is my purpose? Who am I really here to serve many of you will know that I went to this business by design live event in California towards the end of last year. And really one of my big takeaways was this question, who are you here to serve, and how do you serve them best? And I started really reflecting on this over this end of year period. And I really realized a big part of my life and who I am is helping people live their creative dreams. Helping people write their screenplays, helping people sell them, helping people make their movies. These are things that I am really good at helping people with because I've done them. But not just that I've done them, but that they were not easy or obvious for me. Many of you will know that when I wrote my first screenplay, it took me years because I had so much self doubt, I had so much fear, I had so much conditioning telling me that I couldn't do it and that it was crazy and that I'd never be able to sell anyway. I was wasting my time.
Diane Bell [00:05:53]:
I was going to embarrass myself. So I feel like a black belt in slaying those kinds of demons. And because I am a black belt in it, I am very good at helping other people to overcome those things and actually write their screenplays. I'm very good at helping people to overcome the doubts in their heads when they're trying to sell it and it's not working. I'm very good at helping people to overcome the doubts and fears when they're trying to make their movie and it's not working. I'm very good at helping people celebrate when they do do these things. But I realized a huge part of my gifts are my ability to help screenwriters and filmmakers. And that if I didn't actually share those gifts, I'm not living my purpose.
Diane Bell [00:06:35]:
And I'm not doing the best I can for you. I'm not doing the best that I can for the world. And I'm not doing the best that I can for me to live a meaningful life. One of the things that really is most important to me now is that I live my purpose and that I live meaningfully. It's not about making lots of money. It's not about, I don't know, being famous or winning awards at this point in my life. It's really like, how do I be of best service? How do I most help people live to their fullest potential? Because I believe that the more of us that can do that, the better our world will be. I honestly believe people dropping the conditioning that tells them they're not good enough and stepping into their power to live their purpose, to live their dreams that will change the world.
Diane Bell [00:07:24]:
And I want to do whatever I can to play my tiny little part in helping people to do that. So I've realized that part of that, for me, is inevitably about screenwriting and filmmaking. Now, the funny thing was, too, that once I took the pressure off myself last year not to talk about it, what I slowly found is I really missed it. I really miss having conversations in instagram and sharing my thoughts on these things, and I just missed it. Film and screenwriting are not done with me. So we're back. We're doing some screenwriting and filmmaking, and it's coming from my heart. It's coming from a place that just feels really, truly compelled and excited to help people who want to write screenplays, who want to make films.
Diane Bell [00:08:12]:
I've started that by this year. I'm offering a free masterclass at the moment called script to screen. And if you have a screenplay that you want to get on the screen, you can send me a message with the word screen, and I will send you a link. Or you can go to dianebell.com screen and sign up for it that way, and you can check out that class. I want to really do better myself, really think about who am I here to serve? How do I best serve you? How do I give you the most value? So I'm having a lot of little shifts in how I'm going to be doing things. One of my big focuses right now is going to be the networks. As I say, I realized how much joy that gives me and how effective it is at actually helping people achieve their dreams. So if you're a screenwriter or a filmmaker and you want my support in making your movies, getting your screenplays written, just go to dianebell.com network and you can join us.
Diane Bell [00:09:12]:
And it really is such a powerful group. I would love to see you in there. There's three basic pillars to that group. There's courses. You get access to a whole library of courses that I've created before. So you have so much information and so many tools to help you thrive. But you also get coaching from me. We have four zooms a month, every month with me, where you can get my direct support.
Diane Bell [00:09:33]:
You can ask me anything. You can tell me what's going on. This is gold. This is what keeps you on track. This is really what makes the difference to people in the network and why they're achieving such incredible results. And then there's also the community, and you cannot underestimate that we have an incredible, diverse, global community of screenwriters and filmmakers in the network, and they're kind of at all different stages of the journey. There are some people who are literally writing their first screenplay who are in the network, and then there are people who are in post production on their features. There are people who are in development, who have sold their scripts to tv companies and are now in the process of working with them to actually bring their things to the screen.
Diane Bell [00:10:15]:
So there's people at all different stages, and it doesn't matter where you are on the journey, you are welcome to join us. We would love for you to be part of it. It's supportive, it's kind. It's really a special group to be a part of. So you get courses, you get coaching, you get community. Go to dianebell.com network and sign up. There's one other piece of news, and this is just a little seed of a piece of news, but many of you will know that I created a program called write your screenplay in eight weeks. It's become something of a legend in certain circles because it works.
Diane Bell [00:10:51]:
I, to this day, get emails almost every day saying, oh, my gosh, I've used it to write two screenplays. I've used it to write three screenplays. I love the course so much. Before this, I was so blocked, and this just set me free. It's an incredible course. And I recorded that course, I think, four years ago. And since then, it's just been the same course that I have shared. And I've actually felt a little bit scared about changing it for quite a long time because it works so well.
Diane Bell [00:11:18]:
And I was like, why would I fix it when it works so well? But to be honest, and it's really funny, I've just, over the end of the year period, and I was reflecting on things, I suddenly popped into my consciousness, this idea that I know how to make it even better. So you can join it right now. If you go to my website, you'll find the link for it. Go to dianebell.com screenwriting. And on that page, you'll find a link to write your screenplay in eight weeks. So if you want to write a screenplay, you can sign up, but I'm just giving you the first little lowdown that there is going to be a new version of it coming soon. Now, if you've already signed up for it, you will get access to the new version at no extra cost. And I just want to make that really clear because that's always been the terms that you get lifetime access to the course, plus all future updates.
Diane Bell [00:12:05]:
So if you're listening to this and you bought it a year ago or two years ago, or three years ago or four years ago, and you're like, oh, my God, I want to hear about this new version. You will get access to the new version, so stay tuned for that. And if you buy it now because you want to start working on your screenplay right now, you could do that, and then you'll still get access to the new one. But I've suddenly had some insights about how to take that course that's already really good and has worked for hundreds of screenwriters and actually make it better. Hoohoo. This is really a theme of my life right now. How do you take good things and make them better? So I hope you're doing fantastic. I hope that your start of the year is beautiful, uplifting, that you're feeling inspired.
Diane Bell [00:12:51]:
I hope that wherever you are on this journey, you're also having the courage to really look at your life with honesty, with courage, with a willingness to change. It's funny, because when I started to have these epiphanies about wanting to talk about screenwriting and filmmaking again, I was like, oh, my gosh, are people going to think I'm mad? I just said six months ago that I don't think I'm going to do this anymore. And then I thought, you know what? Am I going to live my life worried about what people think? There are people who I'm here to serve, and I invite you to think the same about your journey because I have a feeling a lot of us get caught in these traps of, well, I've said I'm going to do this, so I better follow through. I chose this path, so I better complete it. I decided that this was the way I was going to do it, so I better do it this way. I can't be seen to be flip flopping around or changing my mind. And honestly, I think all of that is hogwashed. I just think you've got to follow your heart.
Diane Bell [00:13:49]:
And sometimes that means it leads you down dead ends. And sometimes it takes you on little detours, and sometimes it takes you to places that you realize aren't where you want to go. And it's okay, because what matters is ultimately you follow your heart. You do. You, you live your life on your terms, in your way, and that's how you're going to live your best life. You're not here to impress other people. You're not here to be their idea of consistent, of good of anything. You're here to be on your journey.
Diane Bell [00:14:27]:
And I honestly think as hard as it is, if you choose to just follow your heart, trust it, live from that place, it's always going to lead you in the right direction. Even if it does sometimes take you on detours, even if it does sometimes mean it takes you to a dead end. And you say, wait a second, what am I doing here? This isn't where I wanted to go. So I am just having the courage to make my little route changes here. I don't know exactly what the future holds. I'm not going to make any kind of mad promises or mad predictions about it either. This was an unexpected plot twist for me. I didn't see it coming last year when I felt like I'm just done talking about screenwriting or filmmaking, it really did feel like that.
Diane Bell [00:15:09]:
But now I'm like, okay, no, not over. So I'm just going to trust that and go with it. And I don't quite know where this unexpected plot twist is going to lead, but I will say I'm definitely committed to being a mentor for screenwriters and filmmakers for at least the next few years. It just feels absolutely like an essential part of me and it's one of my gifts and it's one of my values and it's something that I know that I can help in. So I'm here for it. And if you are here to write a screenplay, or you are here to make a film, or you're here to do some creative, wild, incredible things, I hope you will join me and stick around. All right, my loves, thank you so much for being here today. I want to wish you the happiest 2024.
Diane Bell [00:15:59]:
I want you to wish you the best year yet of your life. A year where all your dreams come true. How good would that be? So create your vision. Hold your vision, make this your best year, and live from your heart. Because that's the way you truly make all your dreams come true. I'll see you soon. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast today. If you enjoyed it, could you do me a favor? Please leave it a little review wherever you're listening to it, or screenshot it and share it on your social media and tag me so I can see it.
Diane Bell [00:16:31]:
I would be so appreciative. Thanks so much. I love you and I'll see you soon. Bye.
