David Richards is a #1 international best-selling author, life coach, yoga instructor and self-development speaker. In his debut book, Whiskey & Yoga, David shares his wisdom on finding one’s purpose and living intentionally. His second book, The Lighthouse Keeper, is a story around the power of mindfulness and the ways that individuals can learn to shift their awareness to master their minds.
After serving fifteen years on active duty and rising to the rank of Major in the Marines, David joined Cisco Systems in 2006 and shortly thereafter discovered yoga. Realizing the fulfillment that came from helping others see their vision more clearly, he became a certified life coach.
He now works with individuals and organizations conducting training through private coaching engagements, speaking events and workshops. Based in North Carolina, David blends elements of yoga with quantum physics to bring the esoteric together with the practical for a truly unique perspective of how the mind works, in turn creating easily understood self-development plans that create lasting change for a more fulfilling life.
KIMBERLY MASKA: Welcome everybody, welcome to Spiritual Biz Chat for Spiritual Biz Magazine, and today we have joining us is David Richards, a life coach, yoga instructor and best-selling author. Welcome, David, and thank you for being with us, how are you doing today?
DAVID RICHARDS: I’m doing fantastic, thank you and thank you for having me! I hope you’re well.
KIMBERLY: It’s a pleasure to have you here, David! Congratulations on the release of your latest book, but before we get to it, could you share the story behind your personal journey down the path to your current life’s purpose and work? How does a Marine become a yoga instructor and a writer?
DAVID: It’s been a wild journey! I’ve always enjoyed writing. Writing and drawing were two incredibly creative outlets for me when I was younger. In grade school, I received national recognition for a short story and sold some of my poetry. I thought writing came naturally to everyone, so didn’t think much of it. When I went to college, I decided to major in English, even though I knew after graduation I’d immediately join the Marines. I became an officer and went into training, setting my writing aside; it wasn’t until I was about ten years into my military career that I started writing again.
At the time, I worked for a boss who painted! I was blown away. Not to suggest that Marines don’t have creative pursuits or artistic tastes, but I’d never worked with someone who had that level of creativity. I started writing again and would share some of my poems with my boss. One particular poem about Achilles inspired him to paint a painting of the tragic hero.
I continued progressing through my military career until 2005 when I was diagnosed with a tumor in my neck. While the tumor turned out to be benign, it gave me reason to pause. I realized the path I was on…following in my father and older brother’s footsteps of military service…was that path I thought I was supposed to follow, but it wasn’t who I was. I decided to exit the military.
A week after leaving active duty, I read an article in a prominent sports magazine about pro football players using yoga to strengthen their midsections and decided to give it a try. After two classes, I was hooked and within a year became an instructor.
KIMBERLY: What was the turning point in taking the steps to make your passion a business? And how have you managed to turn that into a business?
DAVID: 2017 was the year when I discovered my life’s purpose. I recently tweaked it, but the purpose of my life is to be a force for progress, speaking and writing with passion, and sharing life’s joyous moments. For me, the turning point came when I realized the journey we all have to take, to lift the veil from our eyes, is an internal journey.
But when you get on that path, you realize there are so many people trying to help you. And then one day, you become one of those people, where you live from a place of service. In that moment, you realize that the freedom we all seek, however we dress it (money, happiness, success, love), can only be found by helping others get free. That’s what I do. I help people find their freedom.
KIMBERLY: What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced while building your business and growing your audience? And what do you think the biggest challenge is for all spiritual entrepreneurs nowadays?
DAVID: The biggest challenge is that of scale. When we’re awakened, we know that our message can change the world. But we have to scale it down. Start with one person. Then two. Then five. And it builds. Not everyone is ready to hear the message. For someone, I might be a perfect fit; for someone else, they need to hear it differently. And that’s perfectly fine.
There’s also an element of consistency. By consistency, I mean you have to keep at it. In some ways, it’s like trying to crack a large boulder with a sledgehammer. You just have to keep swinging. Every day, take five swings. Then one day, the boulder cracks open, and you realize that it wasn’t the final blow that did it…it was all the previous strikes that came before.
KIMBERLY: Congratulations, David, on your new book “The Lighthouse Keeper”! Is there specific significance behind such an interesting title? And what do you hope for the readers to take away after reading your book?
DAVID: Thank you! I was overjoyed by the success of “Whiskey and Yoga”, and grateful it went to #1 in Self-help on Amazon when it debuted. While my first book is a guide to help people find their happiness and their success by discovering their life’s purpose, my latest release, “The Lighthouse Keeper” is a journey of waking up in order to master our fate. I was inspired by the symbol of a lighthouse as a representation of our inner awareness.
Our mind is like an ocean, full of the memories of all the events that make up a life, and full of everyone we’ve ever met. We can shine our awareness anywhere within the ocean we choose, though most people let it wander the way a lighthouse lantern circles the seas in its rotation. My hope is that through this story, readers can learn that our mind is the gateway through which our soul interacts with the material world; in order to master our lives, we must first master our minds.
KIMBERLY: Is there a final message you want to let the audience know? Or just any last little words that you have for them?
DAVID: Success isn’t about what you do; you attract success to you by who you become.
KIMBERLY: If our readers wanted to reach you, where can they find you?
DAVID: They can find me at davidrichardsauthor.com and on IG/Twitter at @davidrichardsauthor.
KIMBERLY: Thank you, David, very much! It has been such a pleasure chatting with you today!
DAVID: Thank you! It’s been an absolute joy to talk with you. Love and light.
