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!!

Want a nutritional supplement to support the game you are out to play? Get it NOW

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!!

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!

Train your Brain...the Rest Will Follow...

I have learned to do some pretty radical things along the journey to get to where I am today so I want to share with you the most profound... Train your Brain and the Rest will Follow.

British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said it so well when he observed, "You will never go higher than your thinking."

Here is the BIG IDEA...Our thoughts shape our reality.  Our thinking forms our world.  What we focus on expands. And what we dwell on determines our destiny. 

Its so funny to me now...how things align up in our lives.  I have a little ipod suffle...its one of the originals but is near to my heart...It's engraved... "Overcome your greatest weakness."  I laugh now  because I think...who knew I had so many weaknesses to overcome? Additionally who knew the journey would begin with me out there pounding the pavement with that little ipod shuffle....crazy God is so Great stuff there!!!

So the "story" that has ran my life is...I'm not good enough. Now I did some work to come to know and see this... I will share in future posts...its truly  profound.  But if I'm not good enough is driving this body...what is going to show up in my life?  A whole big pile of POO right??!!  I'm gonna start packing the weight on, lead my marriage down a path of destruction....he's gonna leave anyway right...because I'm not good enough, etc etc.  You trackin with me?

And then I wake up one day and say...ok... I am sick and tired of being worthless, fat, tired and miserable...so I try a diet right or start a workout routine...that's what we do...and it works for a week or two...and then what happens? the wheels fall off the bus and I have gained 7 more pounds...WHY? 

Because left to its own demise...I'm not good enough is running the show and anything that gets int he way of that...the machine = brain...will SHUT IT DOWN!! Why? Survival.  Keep trackin with me here...The story I'm not good enough was made up when I needed to SURVIVE something.  Shit happens in life we got to get through.  When we get through it...the brain says YEAH and locks in this story...cuz IT WORKED, it kept the body safe  Survival...this untrained brain certainly does not serve us...in fact most often it stops us...blocks us from thriving in life.

See weight for me was pain. Layers of fat...coats of pain. I eat when I'm stressed, upset, worried, scared..you got it emotional eater at your service.  Maybe you can relate? Why do we eat? Fill a void...be satisfied by something...because we are not being satisfied by whatever is going on in front of us...its a ugly reality friends...you want a break through in life...come face to face with your ugliest realities...and find freedom on the other side!!  Join me!

See when I'm fat you won't want to be around me...further validating I'm not good enough.  But even physically... you can't get close to me...keeping me safe...can you see the power of the brain and its wicked ways?

So how do you break free? Train the brain and the rest will follow....

Robin Sharma taught me the power of Mantras and things have never been the same!! Mantras are nothing more than positive, inspiring words or phrases designed to break limiting or self-sabotaging thinking patterns we run through our heads on a consistent basis.

In Sanscrit man means "mind" and tra means "freeing" so mantra literally means "freeing of your mind" and this is precisely what it does.  Extraordinary, yes?

So now when I go running I chant to myself..."I am a pain free elite athlete".

When I start my day "I am unreasonable and unstoppable"

When I am on my way home to see my daughter "I am a patient loving mother"

When I am hunting down my husband for some TLC "I'm sexy and I know it" (LOL)

And you keep saying it over and over and over....

These empowering phrases will sink deeply into your subconscious mind once you start flooding your consciousness with positive influences.  Negative thinking patterns which have been holding you back will be replaced by the positive.

Take 5 mins to create a series of personal mantras that will inspire you to attain personal, professional and spiritual success.

Are you Stressed Out? Low on Energy? Struggle with Losing Weight? Difficulty Sleeping? Find it hard to Concentrate or Listen?  ADD, Addictions, Depression, Alzheimer's?  Check this out...begin to choose your Life today!! 

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!!

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!

If You Can Do 3...You Can Do 13...

Today I devote this personal message to YOU...I am going to share passionately about the power of tiny daily incremental changes over time lead to extraordinary results...how do I know this for sure...keep reading and check it out for yourself...

If You Can Do 3...You Can Do 13...This is what my friend told me mid May 2010 when she asked me if I wanted to train for the Lewis & Clark half marathon October 3rd....are you nuts??!!  She had ran one half marathon in her life but was naturally athletic and worked out regularly... simply gorgeous.   She had recently had a baby and was ready to shed the weight...with a goal in mind, surely it would be easier.

She says...Shannon...if you can do 3...you can do 13.  I said, "um ...I can't run a city block!!"  I was grossly overweight, hadn't been to a gym since I was 18, depressed and losing my mind...but I saw this as an opportunity...I had a glimmer of hope...

Training officially started July 12th...and STARTED at 3 miles....my butt had basically 6 weeks to be able to even get to the point that I was "qualified to train."  This was the future I was living into....Would I? Could I? Sam I am?

The Power of Tiny Daily Incremental Changes

Where & how did I start?  Out my door one early morning.  See I had all the "good excuses" right??!!..couldn't be away from my family...they needed me....they wouldn't support this running thing...work full time job...blah blah blah...excuses right??! Us as humans we make shit up!! So anyway ...the plan was I would run before work.  At the time I was getting to work by 7:30am with about a 40 minute commute...so IF I was going to do this running thing...it was gonna have to be early...

I don't know if you can see it or can relate...but at first... I felt like I didn't deserve or need this time.  I was never a morning person...always a night owl....I was in a backwards way already setting myself up to fail

Yet I started small...I said if can get to 3 miles I guess I was in....at first I could only run a few second before I thought my heart was going to explode and I was gasping for air....it was pure physical.  First the lungs then the legs...

Then it got mental....self sabotage....your too fat, too old, too out of shape, never done this before, how dare you be away from your family, when do you have time for this, your the underdog, your dragging them down....oh....that ugly place we go...ever been there???!!!  Maybe you are there now...just hang on for the ride...you can't have breakthroughs in life without breakdowns!! Oh the beauty on the other side!!


And then about a month into small daily attempts to run 1 minute, to 5 minutes, to 10 minutes to 20 minutes...there came a shift...like woweza....I'm actually doing this!!  The chains that once held me back in every area of my life began to break....

In less than 5 weeks I was running a steady 3 miles at a moderate pace with little to no major discomfort....and I have never looked back.  

What did it take?  Courage, determination, persistence, hope and a couple of buds along my side holding me accountable to show up and run.  It wasn't always pretty, trust me...but we did it...we honored a commitment, followed a schedule and took a stand for our life, our bodies and minds....

I found me out there on the streets...pounding the pavement at 4:30am with my dog...shedding the layers of pain that I carried around my belly.  Then us girls would meet on the weekends for our "long run"...me hunkered down with my head phones blasting and them chit chatting away...see it didn't matter how we did it...as long as we did it...it was the process of tranformation. 

Couldn't run a city block to running 13.1 in less than 6 months.  I have now run 4 half marathons, lost 50 pounds and have radically taken on every area of my life.  I don't share this with you to impress you but to impress upon you...the power of small daily incremental changes lead to extraordinary results!!   Don't get me wrong...I am and will forever be a work in progress...but if I can do it SO CAN YOU!  The mental, physically and emotional confrontations you come up against while taking on your health in this way is truly profound.  It shines a light on everything you do.  You will have more energy, work better, you feel better and people start to notice.  You become contagious!  You become the light!

Its 65 degrees on February 22 in St. Louis...grab your running shoes and START TODAY!

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!!

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!

What is in your Grinch Sack?

October 2007 I got real clear...I was living life with a big ol' sack o' crap swung over my shoulder...and it was doing me no good! 

What do I mean by this?  When I was roughly 15, my mom lost her job and my dad left us in the same month...those are the facts right?  But WHAT DID I DO?  I made it MEAN something...like I'm not good enough, men are going to leave me, there is nothing safe or stable in my life...are you trackin' with me?  And then what?  I stuffed it in a sack and swung it over my shoulder and kept on truckin' through life...right? 

We as humans...this is what we do!! Oh things are FINE...the past is the past....blah blah blah. NO...my behavior, my actions, my way of being GOT ALTERED.

So me and this altered way of being entered into a few more "relationships" that end in dismal failure and then I say  See? See? Look... there's confirmation of all that crap in my sack!!  And my behavior, my actions, my way of being got altered some more.  Again and again and again...

Then... Tada....I enter into a marriage. 

You know what I am talking about, right?  This is hilarious to me now but so true...but I invite you to take a look at your own life... what keep showing up for you?  What are the patterns running in your life?  What is in your Grinch Sack that you have swung over your shoulder that is draggin' you down??!! Like you are tip toeing around, hunched over and this Grinch Sack...it's stealing your identity...it's robbing you of life, vitality, SELF, happiness, success...and so much more...Can you see it?

Now we as humans don't do this intentionally of course...but when we don't look at our life or go to work on an area that is important to us...we just are NOT PRESENT to the IMPACT of our past...it DRAMATICALLY ALTERS THE FUTURE WE ARE LIVING INTO. 

Make sense?  Yeah...and your past is going to keep showing up unless you go to work on it....THEN what is possible? ANYTHING!!!  Like you get to be YOU and not the sum of the crap in your sack...EXTRAORDINARY. Yes??!! 

Is your big ol Grinch Sack keeping you from the life you have always wanted?  Does it keep you playing small?  Are you living your life, marriage, relationships, or even your job...with one foot out the door?  Are you behaving in a way that really leaves them no option but to leave or fire you?

Use your power hour today to really look at your life and just notice the difference between the facts...like something happened.... and the STORY WE MADE UP about what happened.  And DO NOT make yourself wrong about the story...just go...OH...I made that up...look at that...and begin to watch your Grinch Sack evaporate!!

Take on being COURAGEOUS today and look inside your big sack...you will begin to see patterns... When you begin to see patterns, you can begin to make better choices. With better choices you will get extraordinary results! 

Don't know what the power hour is?  Check out Can you REALLY have it all?

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!! 

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!

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!!

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!!

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B the Light!!

What if... today was your last day?

What if you woke up this morning knowing TODAY WAS YOUR LAST DAY?  Would it alter the way you behaved or reacted? 

Would you be a more kind, grateful, or patient? Give longer hugs? Smile at a stranger? Call your parents? Forgive someone? Have a wild sexy adventure with your partner? Go home from work on time? Sit down at the table for dinner with your family and talk? Would you pray? Go for a run? Climb a mountain?

I would like to think...if we just had one day... we would stop and do ABSOLUTELY everything we could in those last moments to REALLY make an IMPACT with our families, our friends, our loved ones...to let them know we loved them. 

After that we might get a little adventurous and jump out of a plane or something...but you get the picture.

Here's the big idea...it's YOUR LIFE...you get to say how it goes!! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??!!You have the power to create a life that matters...RIGHT NOW...whether that's a stay-at-home mom or a CEO of a multi billion dollar corporation...WHO YOU ARE...MATTERS!!

B THE LIGHT!! Catch on fire!!

Let me really drive this point home because it's January 3rd and I promised my readers 2012 was going to look radically different for them!! So... I have read and reread The Leader Who Had No Title by Robin Sharma...so this totally comes from that Guru...but

IMAGINE...you are literally in the grave yard...its just about sunrise...you are digging your own grave....and you stumble upon this massive stone tablet.  You struggle, dig it up, and dust it off to read THE 10 HUMAN REGRETS....so you begin to read aloud...

THE 10 HUMAN REGRETS:

1.      You reach your last day with the brilliant song that your life was meant to sing still silent within you.

2.      You reach your last day without ever having experienced the natural power that inhabits you to do great work and achieve great things.

3.      You reach your last day realizing that you never inspired anyone else by the example that you set.

4.      You reach your last day full of pain at the realization that you never took any bold risks and so you never received any bright rewards.

5.      You reach your last day understanding that you missed the opportunity to catch a glimpse of mastery because you bought into the lie that you had to resign to mediocrity.

6.      You reach your last day and feel heartbroken that you never learned the skill of transforming adversity into victory and lead into gold.

7.      You reach your last day regretting that you forgot that work is about being radically helpful to others rather than being helpful to only yourself.

8.      You reach your last day with the awareness that you ended up living the life that society trained you to want versus leading the life you truly wanted to have.

9.      You reach your last day and awaken to the fact you never realized your absolute best nor touched the special genius that you were build to become.

10.  You reached your last day and discover you could have been a leader and left this world so much  better than you found it.  But you refused to accept that mission because you were just too scared.  And so you failed.  And wasted a life.

So you look up and say..NO!! Now what, you ask?  KEEP DIGGING!! You pick up that heavy shovel.  The sun is starting to peak out from the clouds and you hear a loud "clink."  You look down to discover yet another massive tablet...but this one is different...it was shinning a bit...so you dig faster til you can pull out this golden tablet.  Engraved on the top read THE 10 HUMAN VICTORIES...so you begin to read aloud again...

THE 10 HUMAN VICTORIES:

1.      You reach your end full of happiness and fulfillment on realizing that you are all used up-having spent the fullness of your talents, the biggest of your resources, and the best of your potential doing great work and leading a rare-air life.

2.      You reach your end knowing that you played at a standard of concentrated excellence and held yourself to the most impeccable of standards in each thing that you did.

3.      You reach your end in noisy celebration for having the boldness of spirit to have regularly confronted your largest fears and realized your highest visions

4.      You reach your end and recognize that you became the person who built people up versus one who tore people down.

5.      You reach your end with the understanding that while your journey may have not always been a smooth one, whenever you got knocked down you instantly got back up – and at all times, never suffered from any loss of optimism.

6.      You reach your end and bask in the staggering glory of your phenomenal achievements along with the rich value you have contributed to the lives of the people you were lucky to serve.

7.      You reach your end and adore the strong, ethical, inspirational, and empathetic person you grew into.

8.      You reached your end and realized that you were a genuine innovator who blazed new trails instead of following old roads.

9.      You reach your end surrounded with teammates who call you a rock star, customers who say you’re a hero, and loved ones who call you a legend.

10.  You reach your end as a true Leader Without a Title, knowing that the great deeds you will endure long after your death and that your life stands as a model of possibility.

Powerful, YES?  You have many more days ahead...Which tablet or tombstone do you want to be holding?  Be mindful, be courageous & B the Light!

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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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