Put A Little ________ In It!!

What's missing.... the presents of which would make a significant difference?!!???

Do you ever get to the end of your day or week and all you feel like you did was check off all these things on your list? 

I am a check list junkie...its really the only way I can stay organized and move with velocity...but as I expand my life and the things I am up...the check lists expanded as well....and while I was feeling accomplished I said...what's missing...that which the presents of would really make a real difference??!! And I got it....FUN!!

So it got me thinking...have our workouts, jobs, relationships, sex, parenting, and life in general... started to lack fun? Do we actually resist doing something, do it poorly or maybe don't do it at all...because the fun meter is buried at ZERO??!! 

I have a now 6 year old :) and she can literally have fun EVERYWHERE.  Do you have a little person in your life or know of someone who has a little person?  Think about them for a moment....I take my daughter to the grocery store...she has a blast..."mom, let me be the checker!" she makes the ding sound every time she puts something in the cart.  We go to the library and she gets such a giggle out of checking her own books out.  She sings songs & performs dance routines in the shower, skips to get the mail, asks to vacuum the kitchen floor, and brushes her teeth to Justin Bieber.  Do you get it...every day mundane tasks taken on with child like fun & play??!!

So I set up an experiment...add FUN to everything... and got the most UNEXPECTED WORKOUT...had a fun-rampage of a lifetime and got a whole new view!!

Friday was girls day...Dad was off to play golf and we were left to our own demise!!  Savannah has only had her training wheels off for a maybe 2 months and has only ever rode in our court.  Friday morning comes...the check list starts...the mind is racing...I want to go for a run...but I can't cause I didn't get up while everyone was still sleeping...its a beautiful day...in my mind...the opportunity for a run/workout is over....UGG. 

I was committed to fun (can you hear it kind of starts out forced, stomping my foot..LOL)...so I say to my daughter...what do you want to do...its your day!?  She says...I want to ride my bike...so I'm like...well we could go to Grants Trail.  You ride, I will run with Xander (the dog) and we will have some FUN!! She was totally pumped!! Now she had never been and I was really mentally prepared for us to be out there maybe 20 - 30 mins...I figured it would be maybe a mile, mile and a half at best...she would be bored or tired....boy was I wrong!!! 

Here we are 3 miles in and she is CONVINCED we are doing the whole 18!!

I know she had fun...but I had the time of my life!! We talked and sang the whole way...pointed out animals & flowers we saw along the way.  I was so present to putting fun back in my run, it gave me a whole new perspective to working out!!   By the way...I had to shut her down at mile 5!! LOL

So what's next?  We jump roped, hula hooped, bounced on the trampoline, played soccer in the back yard...you name it...our bodies were moving!!  I felt like I was on an Olympic track and field special event.  We bonded, giggled, burned calories and now have memories of a lifetime!!

So needless to say the experiment was a success and the results were...workouts don't have to be what you think they have to be.  Put a little FUN in it and see what you can create!! 

What other areas could benefit from the fun meter rising??!! TAKE IT ON!! I promise you...just being AWARE of your FUN meter in one area will shine lights on other areas...this is an extraordinary opportunity to PLAY! Life is short...its your GAME!!

PLAY like your 6 again...TAG YOUR IT!!

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B the Light!

Can you REALLY have it ALL?

Can you REALLY have it ALL? Can you have work life balance?  Can you take on a 5k, spend more quality time with your family and get promoted?  This is a great question posed by one of my readers and I think it is one that plagues so many of us.  I will respectfully propose to you... ABSOLUTELY!! 

What is "work life balance" anyway? 

Work Life Balance is really a balance between PERFORMANCE and PLEASURE. 

I go to work on this DAILY. It really is daily choices over time and practice to get it right....but once you do...you have this AHA moment (thank you Oprah)...it feels SO good and you are like...I did it!  I rocked this day! I have it ALL and I figure out the DANCE between performance and pleasure. WOOT WOOT!!

SMALL DAILY CHANGES OVER TIME...

 LEAD TO EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS!! 

4 simple and essential steps to get EXTRAORDINARY-U to work life balance:

1.  TAKE ON YOUR HEALTH.

How do I know this?  I have experienced this in my own life!  2 years ago, I couldn't run a city block, rapidly approaching 200 pounds, my job in jeopardy, my marriage on the rocks, my mothering...well what example was I REALLY setting? 

Now I am running marathons, lost almost 50 pounds, getting raises, reconciling relationships,..I am doing things I have never done before, really don't know how to do technically but I am pushing myself bigger than I ever knew possible.

HOW??!! Because I took on my health!! Robin Sharma will say, "You can't do good unless you feel good."   Your PERFORMANCE at work is ENHANCED.  You are more EFFICIENT and JOYFUL.  And then at the end of the day you still have the ENERGY to play with your kids or go visit your parents, cook a healthy meal, or take on a new adventure.  My husband lost 25 pounds just because I was cooking differently and we were making different choices. 

So TAKE ON YOUR HEALTH!  Be Sexy! 

2.  JOIN THE 5 O'CLOCK CLUB

What is this?  So many of us are like...well I wanna take on my health and I wanna lose 15 pounds but I just don't have the time!! (as we stop our foot) 

You want work life balance? SET YOUR ALARM FOR 5AM!! It may be the most powerful thing you do all year.  What is the big idea here? You get up just 1 hour before the rest of the household and take that hour for YOU. 

Do you realize if you get up just 1 hour earlier each day at the end of the week you would have 7 extra hours...that's almost a full work day!  At the end of the month you would have almost 30 extra hours!! At the end of the year you would actually have gained 365 hours or 15.2 DAYS...that's over 2 weeks!!  In 10 years...3,610 hours or 150 days!! DO YOU GET THAT??!! You have the knowledge and power to gain almost a HALF A YEAR to your life!! WOW that's a BIG IDEA!! What are you going to do with it??!!

Take this hour as your POWER HOUR!! Go to the gym, yoga, meditate, journal, blog, or just sit and BE, envision your dreams, plan your day, and drink your coffee. When you take this hour for you...you begin to know yourself...and when you begin to know yourself...you can begin to make better choices....with better choices you will get better results.

How do I know this? My alarm goes off at 4:30 am, I lace up my shoes and bust a run in.  I come back and meditate (something new I am taking on), hit the showers and rock out my day!  I FOUND me...in this hour....like IT TAKES SOMETHING to have this commitment...you take this on...it will open up new possibilities in your life you NEVER thought possible!!


3.  IDENTIFY YOUR COMMITMENTS & COMMUNICATE THEM

So we all have things we are committed to in different areas of our lives...like this blog...I am committed to being the light, inspiring and motivating with posts a minimum of 2 times a week...right?  So I just told you that and you can hold me to that :)

Let's take that to the work life balance dance floor....  What are you really committed to in that area of your life?

Well, what I did was literally took out a piece of paper and around the area of work life balance (with really work in mind) I answered the question.  Here was the list I came up with:

I am committed to:

• My word...like if I say I going to do something...I do it
• Quality work
• Our shareholders
• Deadlines
• Being a team player...like you need me...I am there
• Respect and honoring my leaders
• Having a LIFE that works

I took my list and had a meeting with my manager...(btw...your list is no good if you don't let others in on what you are up to and what you are creating) and I said...look I am committed to these things, like this is who I AM.  Now my manager KNOWS what I am committed to and really can hold me accountable for these commitments. POWERFUL, yes??!! 

This is where the balance comes in...so INSIDE my commitments... I am committed to having A LIFE THAT WORKS....and a life that works for me means being there at special moments of my daughter's life (this is just one example so you get the point). So I ask for an adjustment to my schedule to be able to attend my daughter's holiday parties at school. She has 3 a year, they are 1 hour long, 1:30pm - 2:30pm and it is IMPORTANT to me that I attend these. I want to know my daughter's world, ya know??!!

So when these holiday parties came up...my managers and I created a plan around my schedule that works! Each time maybe alittle different depending on the timing of the year and the flow of work. But we got it...a beautiful dance to the melody of work life balance....my work gets a POWERFUL, COMMITTED, DEDICATED ME and I get this amazing moment in my daughter's life where I can meet her friends and really see who she is in her world...all in the same day!

So what are you committed to? Communicate that and begin to unlock that area of your life that is important to you!

4.  SCHEDULE EVERYTHING

Schedule everything!!! What gets scheduled gets done...that's a big idea! 

You have a meeting at work...you get an invite...you accept the invite...and you show up at the meeting right? Easy. Same thing...you make a doctor or hair appointment...you put it on your calender...you arrive on site on the day of your appointment at the appropriate time. No brainer...yes?

Back on the work life balance dance floor....So now you take on this new adventure of your health...schedule it! 5k training runs...schedule it!! Church...schedule it! Sexy adventures...schedule it! The power hour...schedule it!! Sleep...sometimes I have to schedule it!!!  What gets scheduled gets done!!

I am sure you are like really??!! YES REALLY!! Your calendar is the perfect picture (its proof) of what you are committed too...whoa!  What do I mean here?  Ok...I live and breathe by Google Calender...if you are not familiar with it...it is an amazingly powerful tool...I have a calender set up for my daughter (blue), husband (red), family (orange) work(purple), me (green), personal development (dark green), my business (bright green), birthdays, etc etc....and each one is assigned  a different color.  I can view my calenders layered on each other or alone.  You can access via the web or my phone, set alarms, pop ups etc.  At one glance, in vivid color...I can see my day...

SMALL DAILY CHANGES OVER TIME...

LEAD TO EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS!!

So if you are striving for work life balance...your calender should look like a rainbow...filled with a BALANCE between PERFORMANCE & PLEASURE!!

Join my sexy readers club and LIKE ME on Facebook or TWEET ME on Twitter so you are continually plugged into a community committed to GREATNESS!! 

If this moved you to action today...SHARE BELOW...your story may inspire someone else and change thier life!!

B the Light!!

Did you see me?!?? Did you, huh? Huh?

Did you ever show up and show off and it seemed like no one even noticed? 


What do I mean by that...did you cook a great meal that your family didn't appreciate? Did you really ROCK a project at work and they said hey that's "doing your job"?  Maybe you spent all day cleaning the house, went out of your way to do that extra then you turn around to see your family dump their junk all over the kitchen table.


So you get it...you go and do something but when you stop, look around... no one saw or cared.  What was the impact of that in your life?  How did that make you feel?


I got REALLY present to this tonight.  My 5 year old daughter attends Little Gym.   She traditionally is the youngest and smallest in her class but seems to excel at a rapid rate...and I asked myself WHY?  I was never in gymnastics or really never played a sport.  My husband was a soccer stud but hang from bars and balance beams were not his thing :)  We don't work on this stuff at home etc etc...  HOW? WHY?


So I look around the room and really noticed something...actually frightful to me...every parent in the room was sitting there with their heads down on their ipads, ipods, phones, blackberry...whatever, you get the idea. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.  I had noticed this before but it really clicked for me tonight...


Now don't get me wrong, I am a work in progress. I have screwed up a ton in the past and will continue to screw a ton up in the future...


BUT for that 1 hour my daughter is in Little Gym my eyes are all on HER.  I get to see her COURAGE and DETERMINATION.  Her TRIUMPHS and STRUGGLES.  I am so often moved to tears when I watch her...in awe with every challenge she takes on!!


She is SHOWING UP and SHOWING OFF and just wants someone to notice.  And what's the impact of that??!! She gets more courage, confidence, joy,  and fun and eventually excels at what she does.  


We all get these tiny moments to build trust, love & respect with our kids...they are tiny blocks on top of blocks.  Don't miss this one.


I encourage you...next time you are at your kids function...LOOK UP!  Keep the phone, ipads, ipods, blackberry IN THE CAR.


Appreciate them for all they are and all they are not...and then share what you saw with them!!!


I guarantee the impact of THAT moment will be MORE fulfilling than unlocking the 9th level of Angry Birds. 


B the light (your kids are watching)

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