Interview with Ken Woods by reporter James Warden: “A short journey into the Woods”, Aspen Colorado Gazette

James: As we sit here today on a deck outside a lovely cottage among the Aspen and pine trees on a couple of beautiful teak lounge chairs that my host made right here in his workshop, it is a gorgeous fall day in our little slice of paradise here in Aspen, Colorado. I am joined by Ken Woods, a quiet yet enthusiastic family man and business owner who credits his success to surrounding himself with great people who inspire and challenge him to want to serve others on their journey toward healthier lives; where as he puts it, “people have the money and time to live life on their terms”.

Ken, how did you end up here, with a wonderful family, successful businesses, and quite frankly, what appears to be a contentedness with where you are.

Ken: “Well James, first, thank you for coming out and for your interest in just a little about my story, one of many here in the mountains around Aspen. I have had to reinvent myself several times in my life, and what you see here today is of course the result of a lifetime journey, and not just the last few years.

That said, what you see here in what kind of became a family compound started with a deeper understanding and development of my intention and all that I have learned along that journey. Most importantly how I was able to turn my thoughts from merely dreaming about the life I have today; to one of intention, with inspired action and a plan for success that I was able to pursue and develop with time.

James: Well, that sounds interesting, help me and our readers better understand what you mean by intention and inspired action. But, before you do, maybe you can start at the beginning of this journey.

Ken: Well, I guess you could say it happened in the fall of 1998, I was in an Operations Center in Washington D.C. on a Saturday as an Air Force Office of Special Investigations Special Agent, working a 12 hour shift. A call came in about a triple murder in Japan and my day became very busy helping agents and briefing the one star general about what was happening half a world away. The day was defining.

After a long day, the General paid me a visit and gave me some “mentorship and career advice”. It was really nice of him, he was taking time out of his day off to help a young officer think about how to plan for the next 20+ years of service…I listened…and came to realize that what he was describing was all of a sudden not the life I wanted to live.

The USAF is great, and I loved and am very proud of my short time of service, but I truly realized on that day that I had changed and what I wanted when I started my career was not what I wanted after that day.

James: What happened? Was that day too traumatic?

Ken: No, it was just another day in the operations center, what happened was that I could no longer see myself at the end of 20+ years being where the General was, and he was a great man at the pinnacle of his career. He helped me to really see and understand that I wanted something different!

It was one of several times in my life where that expression came to life, “when the student is ready the teacher appears”, and that day, a great mentor unwittingly showed me that it was time for me to move on to something new.

James: So, what happened?

Ken: I won’t bore you with my whole background, but I ended up going to work in my family business that sold vitamins and supplements and wellness products and most importantly showed me the value of personal development, learning, and setting goals that help other people and not just yourself.

That led to me backing into another opportunity that involved sales training within the health and wellness industry and it led me to meeting an amazing diversity of people. People just like my family who wanted more out of life.

James: So, you started a business that helped other people develop their businesses in the world of vitamins and supplements?

Ken: Sort of, what I found out through my own personal search for how to work smarter and not harder was that I was working harder and harder and not really figuring out the smarter. I started to learn more than just goal setting and dreaming big and working hard to accomplish your dreams… I mean there is always some of that. But what I really learned was that my thinking needed to change.

James: What do you mean by that?

Ken: What I learned is that your thoughts affect your beliefs and that your beliefs affect the action you take and of course action leads to results…but not in the way I was ever taught. You see, not until the last 5 years, was I really… I mean “really” working on my inner world.

James: Excuse me, your what?

Ken: My “inner world”, what I said to myself, how I said it, and how I felt it internally. I know to some people this may sound unconventional, but there is a lot of science and evidence that shows if you work consciously on how you talk to yourself and set your intentions and take action, you can influence your subconscious and open doors that for me were previously unseen.

Think of it as helping my operating system by writing new code with better programming language. I was not really connecting my emotions to my thoughts and belief system in a way that reinforced itself in a virtuous cycle. One that then supported me taking action to what several mentors helped me to create, and that is my definite major purpose, and doing it in a way that was in keeping with my values and some laws in life that really affect us all.

James:Wow, it sounds like you have it all figured out!

Ken: (laughing quietly) I wish that were true, what I have found is that I am on a journey of personal development in a way that is much more organically and holistically in line with my faith and family and ethos, and ultimately has led me here.

To the life you see with me here now. One that is emotionally healthy, is full of gratitude, is quite a bit less judgmental, and one that understands one of the great joys in life is learning how to better see the world around us, and helping others to see it too, and to succeed in life. This is about really living life on your own terms, a life of health, mental wellness, as well as financial success where you have the time to enjoy it with the people you love and care about.

James: So, what is important to you now?

Ken: For me, it is helping people to figure out and accomplish their purpose in life, to be an authentic encourager to them on their journey. Sometimes a sounding board, sometimes a foil. It is personally having as well as helping others to have autonomy and liberty in their lives to chase what God meant for them to do with their own lives!

James: That sounds so uplifting, and inspiring, and you make it sound so simple.

Ken: Well, for sure there is a beautiful simplicity to some of what I have talked about. But there is work involved, for many of us we have to declutter our thinking and pay more attention to what is really holding us back… that has been and quite frankly continues to be the amazing journey for me.

James: Ken, thank you for your time today, I can’t wait to talk more about these ideas in the future.