Alan VanToai - August 2024

In May 2024, I began a journey that would profoundly reshape the way I experience myself, my relationships, and my leadership. That journey was Ascension Leadership Academy (”ALA”) here in Austin, Texas.

Living in Austin, I had heard about ALA for years. But it wasn’t until late 2023 and early 2024, during a season of personal expansion and exploration, that I felt truly ready. Encouraged by my friend Ezra, who had just completed the program, I said yes and enrolled in the ATX19 cohort.

What unfolded over those three months from May to August was nothing short of transformational. ALA challenged me, stretched me, and ultimately expanded my capacity to lead with strength, heart, and intuition. I became a more grounded, powerful, and heart-centered version of myself, and I connected deeply with a tribe of incredible leaders from Austin and beyond.

The experience impacted me so deeply that I returned in November 2024 to serve as a volunteer coach for the next cohort. From November through February, I continued to grow, this time through service, mentorship, and deeper embodiment of the principles I had learned.

This work continues to shape me, and I carry immense gratitude and reverence for the role it has played in my evolution. What follows are some of the most meaningful reflections and takeaways from my experience in Ascension Leadership Academy.

What is ALA?

• ALA is an emotional intelligence/leadership/emotional breakthrough training program.
• In my experience/interpreation, ALA is about:
• Gaining clarity on life vision, mission, purpose
• Surfacing, labeling, and breaking through limiting beliefs, self-talk, inner-dialogue (“rackets” in ALA parlance)
• Surfacing & healing past wounds & trauma (for freedom & liberation)
• Increasing your capacity to manage stress & intensity
• Expanding your capacity for love, trust, and connection to others
• Providing you tools, accountability, and a network to support your integration and being of all the above.
• Succinctly: ALA provides an operating system-level upgrade for your life.
• It’s intense and challenging, but also deeply empowering, liberating, healing, and FUN.
• It was, in my experience, truly life-changing. It was the densest, most potent delivery method for self-development & self-growth that I’ve experienced.

ALA Structure

The content of the workshops includes a bit of lecture, but then, mostly, experiences to give us deep, felt download of the work: games, exercises, challenges, guided meditations, somatic journeys, reflection/sharing/integration circles, accountability.

3 Levels

Levels 1 and 2 are each long weekends that make up the core of the program. Level 3 is an optional continuity & coaching program. All 3 levels are included in the up-front price.

• Level 1: “Discovery”
• 3-day weekend.
• 10-12 hours/day, Fri-Sun
• Level 2: “Breakthrough”
• 4-day weekend
• 10-12 hours/day, Thurs-Sun
• Two weeks after Level 1 (so you have 1 weekend off in between).
• (Optional) Level 3: “Leadership”
• 3-month ongoing coaching & continuity program.
• 3x, 3-day in-person trainings (one per month)
• 3x calls per week
• 1x, 3-hour all-hands (every Wednesday)
• 1x, 1-hour power group (generally every Fri or Sat)
• 1x, 15-minute coach 1:1 (variable, mine are Mon)

My Personal Takeaways

⭐️ I am a committed, loving, and generous leader.

• Love everyone as if your life depends on it
• Start with the assumption that you love everyone, trust everyone, and that everyone could be your friend
• Stay curious
• Withhold judgement
• Bring care, empathy, and love to everyone
• Expressing love feels AMAZING and is a win-win all around.
• I don’t need invitations to share love => SHARE MORE LOVE.
• The secret to getting is giving. Give at the highest level. Be generous.
• I’m not giving 100%. My 80% looks good enough to others, but I know that I have room to stretch into 100% in the areas of life that are important to me.
• I am powerful. I am chosen. I am worthy. And with that power, I CHOOSE to make a difference. I CHOOSE to make a genuine, positive impact on my family, my community, and the world.
• I am “Complete”
• You getting triggered = you giving your power away
• NERDS = Never Ending Repetitive Disruptive Voice. The voice that’s in our head that seeks to limit us. Negative self-talk. Self-doubt. Fears. Insecurities. All NERDS.
• Rackets are the internal conversations, self-talk, and limiting beliefs that hold us back.
• Every racket has a payoff, and a cost.
• Payoff = the reason our subconcious creates/clings to them.
• Cost = the price we, our family/community, and the world pays for the racket
• I am special - a leader amongst leaders. People vote for me. People see me. I inspire people around me when I’m in my power.
• We truly can have a positive impact on the world.
• I silenced my inner child in October. I’m bringing him back, unstoppable
• My vision is to cultivate a sense of… (in myself and in the world)
• Inner peace
• Love
• Joy
• Abundance
• Flow
• My Mission:
• Bring more light, joy, and love into the world.
• Help people reconnect with their unstoppable inner children (starting with myself).
• Make my loved ones, my community, and the world proud.
• My rackets (include but are not limited to…)
• Attachments to “shoulds”
• Self-doubt
• Procrastination
• Avoidance
• Lack of focus
• Self-worth
• I’m proud of my ability to regulate & manage intensity. The yelling & shouting didn’t phase me much at all.
• Trust myself intuition more in my leadership. Second guess myself less.