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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Join the movement...Donate today to Living Water International, because THIS community right here...that you are a part of... is out to make a measurable difference in 2012!!

B the Light!

Project B the Light...you going to join the movement?

How is B the Light going to make a measureable difference in the world for 2012? 

check out the foundation for this project HERE

WATER THE FOUNDATION OF ALL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Click HERE to learn more

What can you do about this? 
Take a STAND with the B the Light community in 2012. 
Donate NOW.

Help the B the Light Community shine like never before!! Be remembered, make a mark, and really...take that leap from where you are today to where you want to be at the end of 2012!

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B the Light!!

LIVING WATER INTERNATIONAL KEY FACTS:

• 884 million people in the world do not have access to safe water. This is roughly one in eight of the world’s population. (WHO-UNICEF)

• 1.8 million children die every year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. This amounts to around 5000 deaths a day. (UNDP)

• LWI projects providing safe water and hygiene education at an average cost of twenty dollars per person, for a generation. (LWI)

• The simple act of washing hands with soap and clean water can reduce diarrheal diseases by over 40%. (UNICEF)

• Providing water and hygiene education reduces the number of deaths caused by diarrhoeal diseases by an average of 65%. (WHO)

• Water-related disease is the second biggest killer of children worldwide, after acute respiratory infections like tuberculosis. (UNDP)

• The weight of water that women in Africa and Asia carry on their heads is commonly 40 pounds, the same as the average airport luggage allowance. (UNDP)
• Water and sanitation infrastructure helps people take the first essential step out of the cycle of poverty and disease.

WATER-RELATED DISEASES
• At any given time, half the population of the developing world is suffering from one or more of the main diseases associated with inadequate provision of water and sanitation. (UNDP)
• At any one time, half of the developing world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from water-related diseases. (UN)
• Around 90% of incidences of water-related diseases are due to unsafe water supply, sanitation and hygiene and is mostly concentrated on children in developing countries. (WHO)
• Intestinal worms infect about 10% of the population of the developing world. Intestinal parasitic infections can lead to malnutrition, anaemia and stunted growth. (WHO)

WATER USE
• The average North American uses 400 liters a day. European uses 200 liters. (UNDP)
• The average person in the developing world uses 10 liters of water every day for their drinking, washing and cooking. (Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC))
• On current trends over the next 20 years humans will use 40% more water than they do now. (UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
• Agriculture accounts for over 80% of the world’s water consumption. (UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

EDUCATION AND ECONOMY
• 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases. (UNDP)
• 11% more girls attend school when sanitation is available. (DFID)
• 40 billion working hours are spent carrying water each year in Africa. (Cosgrove and Rijsberman 1998)
• Households in rural Africa spend an average of 26% of their time fetching water, and it is generally women who are burdened with the task. (DFID)

What are you going to leave behind when you are GONE?

First of all I have to acknowledge you and humbly thank you for reading, sharing, liking and tweeting about this blog.  WE are creating a COMMUNITY, committed to GREATNESS... right here and right now!  And who you have been being...truly is extraordinary!!

You say really??!!  YES!!  We are just a little over a month in the making with only 9 posts and you have helped over 600 visitors and 3 countries being impacted by what we are creating here. Lives are touched, moved and inspired because you took action, and shared, the quality of lives ARE being impacted!!  Thank you for Being the Light! 

It truly is the greatness in you that has you B the EXTRAORDINARY-U!!

So what I am present to is the amazing Grace of the universe.  Why?  There was a calling on my heart to create this blog and share inspiring messages for a long time.  6 weeks ago I enrolled myself in a seminar with Landmark Education and out of that this blog was born!! So this weeks' focus in the seminar was to distinguish Making a Difference...can you say WOW??!!

So what defines Making a Difference anyway?

Landmark defines Making a Difference as this:

1.  Start with a Commitment.
What are you committed to? What STAND are you WILLING to take IN SUCH A WAY that has others take a stand in their own life??!!  Powerful yes?

We talked a bit about commitments in the last post around the area of work.  I truly believe we have different commitments in different areas of our lives.  Our commitments are the foundation of our thinking.  You will never do anything that is not in alignment with your thinking. 

Change your thinking... alters your behavior... which transforms your future!! 

So I have created a global view.... I am committed to being the light in every area of my life.  I really stand for YOUR PAST DOES NOT DEFINE YOU OR YOUR FUTURE!  Like today... in this moment... you can create new... It is your daily choices that can create a NEW future for you to live into.  Who doesn't want that??!! 

2.  Create Possibility.

What does this mean?  Creating possibility is when you share with others what you are committed to and really...people around you CANNOT be resigned!!  Like they get off sitting on their hands, raise their hands and say YES!!

So the possibility I created for this community is you are touched, moved, and inspired in an area of your life that matters to you.

So what shows up? My coworker is like...hey...I have never ran or worked out before but I have seen your transformation over the last 2 years...and if you can do it...I wanna do it...will you help me??!! How honored was I in that moment??!! 

So I said what are you committed to?  She says getting to the gym 3 times a week and I want to do it before work.  I said ok...what would your life begin to look like if you did that? How would you begin to feel? Who would you get to be that you NEVER get to be?  She shared with me she would have more energy, and feel accomplished.  She would be excited to do something for herself to start her day off then the rest of her day can be devoted to family and work.  And who does she never get to be...SEXY!! I don't think this 31 year old ever thought of herself as sexy...NOW SHE CAN!!  We ordered her a bikini for summer and she is already planning a vacation where she can show it off!!!  What is the obvious action she takes after creating this possibility of being sexy??!! She gets up and gets to the gym 3 times a week AND she really reports to me what is so...so she gets to be held accountable!  EXTRAORDINARY!! 

3. Take Action

So you have identified what you are committed to, you created possibility by sharing with others and now you got to TAKE ACTION around your commitments.

What does my coworker do?  She gets her butt out of bed and gets to the gym!! 

What did I do? Using my global commitment of Being the Light as the example...I created this blog and just my everyday WAY OF BEING is one of hope, motivation, inspiration & direction for anyone and everyone I meet. 

Yeah!!  For example, I'm out running today with my dog and the postman, which I have had a few short conversations with before, stops me...we chat. I ask him about his running...I am in action... about what he said he was committed to  that I learned about in earlier conversations...and that was his health and running. He was creating the possibility of VITALITY.  So I get to hold a space open for him and pull him forward into his future of health and vitality just by asking him...hey how is your running going??!! Are you trackin' with me??!!  Like we get to see people with a new set of goggles on!!  Cool, huh?

4. Impacting the Quality of Life

Impacting the quality of other peoples lives is the forth and essential ingredient to truly Making a Difference.  Are you leaving people better than you found them? Are you leaving this world better than you found it?

So when we were going through these elements that really define Making a Difference....I was like yes check, yes check, yes check...but when we got to this one I was like...pause yeah I think so....  I truly believe I am impacting the quality of people's lives here...but we need measurable results.  I want to RAISE THE BAR!

So I challenge you...what are you going to leave behind when you are gone?  What is your footprint on this great nation?  What difference are you making in the world and in the lives of others? How many will be at your funeral to celebrate your life because you impacted theirs?

If you are already up to great things...extraordinary...SHARE WITH US BELOW! 

If you are not...Join US!!  I am launching a project THIS weekend where WE as COMMUNITY... COMMITTED to GREATNESS can create POSSIBILITY, take ACTION, and IMPACT THE QUALITY OF YOUR LIFE AND THE LIVES OF OTHERS with measurable results!! 

Let's be ROCK STARS in Making a Difference!!  Share this with everyone you know as they will want to join us too!!  We cannot do it alone...its gonna take something....and I know THIS is the community to MAKE IT HAPPEN!! 

Get back here next week and help the B the Light Community shine like never before!!  Be remembered, make a mark, and really...take that leap from where you are today to where you want to be at the end of 2012!

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 their life!!

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!!

How are the holidays going to BE for you this year?

The answer to that, for many is....well just like last year, I guess...fine, ok, maybe disappointing, upsetting, stressful...sound familiar?  I get that. 

Here is an idea to try on....your holiday can GO how you SAY its going TO GO??!! Crazy right??!!

So you have 2 choices this holiday season.  You can either sit in the stands of your life and watch your holiday come and go OR you can get on the court and play your game (life) full out!! Get it??!!

So I ask you again....How are the holidays going to BE?  What do you want to create?

Let's breakdown what it really means to be "upset."  What are the 3 things that have to be present for someone to get upset?  (learned this in Landmark Education Seminar...AMAZING)

1. A thwarted intention...what does that mean??!? Hey...It's not going my way!!!
2. An unfulfilled expectation.  This is when we see how something SHOULD go and it just doesn’t go that way.
3. Undelivered communication...what's that? We withhold something that needs to be said, or someone withholds from us

What's the result??!!  WE GET UPSET!!!

How do we dismantle UPSET??!!

1. Recognize... hey I'm upset
2. Determine the source of the upset (1,2,or 3 above)
3. Be responsible for the upset...like OH I didn't tell you how I wanted it to go
4. Communicate

So how does this play out in the holiday, right?

Let's take Thanksgiving for me this year as an example.  So every year it was this big ordeal right?!? We would get up, really dreading the day, head out like 10am, drove like an hour out to my mom's where she cooked the huge delicious elaborate meal, get there, stuff our faces, watch the clock, clean up, watch the clock, visit a little bit, watch the clock head out like 3pm...drive another hour to my husbands family feel stuffed and miserable as we sat down to his mother's huge delicious elaborate meal, stuff our faces, watch the clock, clean up, watch the clock, visit a bit, watch the clock, head out like 8pm, go home, crash and be miserably stuffed.

And every year I would GET UPSET see above :) because it really didn't GO the way I intended it to go. Like that's not really what I wanted out of my holiday??!!! (Can you see me stomping my foot??!!)  Where was the joy and fun in THAT? And I would spend the next couple of days upset and regretful. Sound familiar? 

Here's the reality...our families really never knew this upset us...we never told them!!  WOW!! We were just sitting on the stands of our life watching the holiday go by...and we got what we got... that was an unfulfilled holiday and a big belly ache!!

Can you begin to get this?  Does this resonate with anyone out there?

So this year, my husband and I sat down and created what we wanted.  How does that happen?  Well...you just talk about it, throw out ideas.  We were like...what's important? If we could have it all...what would it look like?  

Well....we discovered what was important was that we got to be with family, relax, play games together, have great food, like have the ability to just sit and talk with each other.  We live in the same town but how often do we really just sit, interact and enjoy each other??!! Right??!! 

So I sent out an email to our families, enrolling them in what was important to us...which was to be with them longer & on more easeful terms.  Who wouldn't want that???!!! Hey I love you and want more of you!!

We proposed combining families to our house and dividing up the menu.  Everyone was like yeah! Bring it on!!  And if it doesn't work...we can create something new next time, right??!!

So what happened??!! Each of the mothers were delighted to share in the cooking.  We got the best of the best combined cooked meal... it was succulent.  We got to spend all day together, kids hanging out, taking pictures, playing games, eating 1 fabulous meal.  We got joy & laughter.  We just got to BE.  It was EXTRAORDINARY!!

"UPSET" was avoided by everyone because we created, communicated & delivered on our intentions.

So can you see how your holiday with your family could be COMPLETELY transformed?  YOU have the power to dismantle UPSET...power is in language and communication...

So I ask you again...How are the holidays going to BE for you this year?  Create NOW and COMMUNICATE to your family, friends & loved ones.  Make this holiday EXTRAORDINARY!!

With love & affection you CAN have it all!!

Be courageous!  B the light (Santa is watching)

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