Monthly Archives: January 2011

Positive Mantras from Three Inspiring Women

Posted on
Reply

 

We entrepreneurs need to train our brains to keep going forward when the going gets tough. A while ago I shared some of my favorite mantras via Facebook and asked members of my community to do the same.  I received some wonderfully inspiring responses. Here are three of my favorites, along with a bit of info about the inspirational women who provided them.

Jennifer Longmore

The first one comes from Jennifer Longmore, North America’s Soul Purpose Expert.  She is an international healer, speaker and author who, for more that 15 years, has guided clients to shift the limiting beliefs and patterns that prevented them from living your most abundant, aligned and accelerated soul’s journey. 

Her mantra is ”I am an attraction magnet for all things ideal and the results are always greater than I ever could have hoped for or imagined!”  I have the privilege of knowing Jennifer personally, and I can tell you that she certainly is an attraction magnet with amazing results!

Felicity Harper

The second mantra is from my friend Felicity Harper.  She’s used this one to get through some major health challenges in recent years.  I admire her courage and am honored she shared one of her tools for getting through when things aren’t so easy-peasy.  ”Everything is OK in the end, and if it’s not OK, then it’s not the end.”

Today’s third mantra comes from Shane Thomas.  Shane promotes fair trade at Crossroads Trade, right up the street from me, through the sales of hand crafted art from artisans around the globe.  She wrote:

Shane Thomas

The quote ”Leap and the net will appear” struck me because without knowing the outcome, I have been a passionate risk taker throughout my life.  The belief in knowing “I will be alright and there is a net” has kept me optimistic through my career life even now with my transition back home to New England after 10 years in this challenging economic time. 

The leap that started the wheels came when a couple friends and I packed all our belongings in 2 cars and headed out West to the San Francisco/Bay area.  I didn’t have a job or know anybody out there; I just knew I had to go.  Before leaving, I remember saying “all I want to do is work in a creative field”.  

The net that caught me there was working my way from up from the mailroom to management at Pixar Animation Studios.  There for 8 years, I realized that I had achieved the goals I set and chose to leave the security of Pixar.  

The next venture was going back to school for fashion/textile industry in Los Angeles (insert quote “never say never” here), accumulate school debt within a high competition field, and overall challenging my “being” to the fullest.  This part of the success story is still in manifestation.  However, I’m living passionately, with no regret, and I trust there is always that silver lining (or the net) even if you have to go through the grey to get there.

Bookmark or link to this post for when you need some extra motivation. I already look forward to reviewing this page often. Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far!  And, if you have a mantra you’d like to share, please add it in the comments below.

Benefits of Legally Mandated Non-Productive Time

Posted on
5

 

I spent yesterday in divorce court, one of many sessions in this long legal process. There’s no joy or ease at family court, that’s for sure.  But I’m trying to find lessons here.

In this particular court room, no electronic devices (or food and drink) are allowed.  You have to be silent. And we had to wait our turn, in the courtroom, on hard wooden benches, for hours.  For next time, I know to bring reading material, but for then I couldn’t help thinking “Waiting here is such a waste of time!   The kids are at school. It’s a work day. I want to be productive while I wait – catch up on emails, write a proposal, support my clients, plan something!”  What’s an entrepreneur to do in such a situation?

So, in my attempt to unearth the lesson, I brainstormed and applied this list of possible activities for a brilliance-based entrepreneur temporarily unable to shine brightly:

  • Pray - I went with the Serenity Prayer on that hard bench
  • Meditate - similar to praying, but with more receiving
  • Breathe deeply - instantly relaxing
  • Compose a blog post  - ‘nuf said
  • Make a gratitude list – fortunately for me, this one takes a lot of time

Try some of these next time you’re stuck in traffic.

Have you had a situation where you couldn’t be productive or genuinely enjoy your present surroundings?  Any other ideas for how to handle it?  Please share in the comments below.

What I Learned from my Winter Vacation

Posted on
Reply

 

In my last newsletter, I pledged I would truly vacation for the last week and a half of December.  Not a working vacation.  

Time off from all work, including email, planning, phone calls, product development, team check-ins and professional writing of any kind.  (Am I the only member of this community for whom this vision seems a distant fantasy?)  Well, I’m here to report, in 700 words or less, that I DID IT!  So now seems to be a good time to reflect on what made this endeavor successful, so I can be ready for the next time I take vacation.  (And oh yes, there will be more in 2011!)

Living as a single mom and entrepreneur for over 2 years now has given me quite the opportunity to play full-out at taking care of others.  In 2010 I finally acknowledged my deep desire to be taken care of too.  When I first became aware of this desire (dare I even consider it a need?) I felt shame.  I’m a strong 21st century feminist!  I can do it all myself!  And yet I wasn’t.  Perhaps I couldn’t.  I can admit this now.

My main physical goal for last year was to be able to run 3 miles at a time, on a regular basis.  Check.  Achieved that and achieved 2 sprained ankles too.  Why?  Because I was so determined to accomplish my goal that I powered through, no matter what – travel, injury, weather interference, lack of hot water.  I powered through until I ran out of juice altogether mid-fall.  Came down with bronchitis and couldn’t shake it for 2 months.  Yay, me. I ain’t powerin’ through no more.  But that’s a whole other blog post.

Anyhoo – by early December I knew that this holiday season I would need to take restorative time off, not just work in a different location as per usual.  By choosing downtime, I wouldn’t need to attract sickness (a recurrence of bronchitis, for example) to take me down.  I decided I would proactively take care of myself, and to do so I would accept and even request offers from others to support me.

Note to self, and to any others who may benefit from my experience, here’s what I learned from my winter vacation.

  1. Plan to commit and commit to the plan. As usual, I blocked the days on my calendar months ago as “Off”.  Typically I then fill those days with many of the activities I did not accomplish up until that point – calls I couldn’t squeeze in, emails I owed to people, projects begging for completion.  This year I notified my team, my clients, my e-community, and my family and friends that I would not be working.  Making such public declaration increased my sense of accountability
  2. Leave a strong team in place.  I knew that while I was away, connect2 would be moving forward thanks to my amazing and dedicated team.
  3. Go away.  Especially since I work from my home full-time now, escaping my home and office felt very important.  The kids and I went to Scottsdale to visit family and friends.  We stayed with my parents.
  4. Read.  I escaped even further by reading a variety of books – a mixture of novels and personal development (nothing professional!).
  5. Take naps.  Daily, if possible.  I successfully ignored anyone who remotely suggested I may be a sleep glutton.
  6. Ask for support.  Asked my kids not to crawl into my bed at night so that I could experience the restorative power of REM.  Asked my parents to stay with my kids so I could go out on my own – twice!
  7. Find a hot tub with a waterfall and sit under it.  Accepted my friend’s offer of bringing the kids to the resort where she was staying. Just visiting the resort for a few hours felt like a vacation within a vacation.
  8. Play games.  We played chess, Blokus, crazy eights, and Cranium.  We laughed.
  9. Watch movies.  We saw an Imax one about scientists who explore caves to find new medical treatments.  Also, my six-year-old daughter and I watched Annie for the first time.  (She loved it).
  10. Spend time listening to loved ones.  Of the friends and family we visited, children and so-called grown-ups, all had messages for me, whether or not they knew it.
  11. Plan something fun for the return.  We arrived back in town Friday night, New Year’s Eve, with a special treat of dear friends picking us up at the airport, with fresh groceries!  Immediately we felt grateful, supported and connected as we prepared to step back into our typical routines.
  12. Come home a few days before school and work start again.   Arriving home Friday night allowed plenty of reentry time over the weekend.  I was able to unpack, open the mail, return my phone calls and reset the house before it was time to get back to the routine.

If only I had caught up on all my emails it would be a perfect system. Knowing I still have something to master about vacationing makes me want to try harder next time.  :)

What did you do for your winter vacation?  Did you let work sneak in? How do you feel about your choice?  I warmly invite you to respond in the comments below so we can dialogue.