Archive for the ‘Realizing Your Dream’ Category

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Smart Women Take the Leap

Friday, November 21st, 2008

The other day, I was listening to one of Madonna’s great dance tunes, “Jump.”  It’s a fun song that makes me want to jump up and dance around the room.  It also motivates me into thoughts about the “jump” in my own life–to take the leap to the next level.  This got me thinking about how Smart Women take the leap into realizing their Big Ideas, Dreams, and Goals.

We all have passions and dreams inside of us.  There may be times in our life when those passions and dreams can take a “back seat” to other areas in our lives, but they are still there—they never disappear or go away.  They wait patiently for us to acknowledge them and take some sort of action—a leap toward them.  As we begin to fantasize about those unfulfilled passions and dreams, we can sometimes fall into a trap of believing that they may never come true.  Why?  Because these dreams usually require change that’s really “big.”  Change would need to occur in our lives.  Change brings about uncertainty and being “uncomfortable.” Do you think I might be writing from experience?

Many of you know my story.  I founded and ran an international marketing company for 12 years.  It started as a part-time business because I needed to earn extra income.  Over time (and a lot of hard work!), it became an international company that was very successful.  This allowed me the opportunity to travel to wonderful places all over the world to do my work.  When I became a mom, I realized that this was no longer the right path for me.  After much soul-searching, I felt a calling to work with women to help them realize their own passions and dreams.  Was it easy?  No way!  Was it challenging to make such a bold change in my life with two young children?  You bet.
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Smart Women Think Like 10 Year Olds!

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

Do you remember what you were like at age 10?  It’s right before our hormones kick in and societal expectations begin to manipulate our thinking.  I remember when I was 10.  I was outgoing, outspoken, with empathy and support for those in need.  This got me thinking about becoming who we are authentically at a young age.  We begin the process of “becoming” and then something happens along the way.  Why? 

I want you to take a moment now to picture yourself at age 10:  What were your hobbies?  What were you thinking?  What stands out?  I will share a very quick story with you about me when I was 10.  It had a profound effect on the shape of my thinking, moving forward in my life.  I had a friend, Kit Wilcox (not her real name) and she lived in a home that was not filled with love and nurturing.  She had a step-mother who was quite beautiful. When you saw Kit’s step-mother and step-sister in the community, both of them were always dressed in beautiful clothes.  However, Kit was not allowed these luxuries.  Kit wore old, outdated and tattered dresses and old scuffed shoes to school every day.  She was embarrassed and it affected the outcome of her day. 

One day, I got this big idea that I would bring clothes in a bag each day to school and Kit would change quickly, before school started every morning and then again at the end of the school day, before she climbed on the bus to go home.  Kit loved the idea and we pulled this off for what seemed like a long time (probably a week or two now that I reflect on it) and then we got caught.  Kit missed the bus one day because she was changing clothes in the bathroom and she finally admitted to her step-mother why she missed the bus.  Needless to say, we were all in the principal’s office the next morning.  There was a rule that you could not share or exchange clothes with other children at school.

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Smart Women Can Be Action Figures Too!

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

In my Success Circles, women create vision boards which represent their big ideas, dreams and plans for living a life filled with energy, passion and purpose.  I invite them to bring in favorite photos or magazines they enjoy reading, as possibilities for their board.  This week, Dawn, a Circle member (and smart woman) brought in “The Big Book of Action Stickers.”  It was a big colorful book filled with stickers for just about everything you can imagine from animals to people.  As I flipped through the pages, it got me thinking about how simple it is to become who you want to be in the world.

Have you ever watched a child take an action sticker and place it somewhere on their body?  They instantly become their version of who that sticker represents to them.  When my daughter puts on a “Batman” sticker, you better believe that she is Batman.  Same thing with Spider-Man (for those of you who know Jenna—she is not going to put on a Cinderella sticker!) Children have this incredible imagination that they can become anything they choose.  My son Jack, will tell you with great confidence that he is going to be both a professional baseball and basketball player.  You may be reading this and thinking, “Oh well, children have such a big imagination.”  Yes, they certainly do.

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Smart Women Plant Their Seeds

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

Last Friday, my children and I went to an Eco-Fest at my son’s school. It offered creative ways to think about living organically and sustaining our planet. At one point my 5 year old daughter Jenna wandered to a booth a few feet away from me, and I noticed that she became very focused on what they were doing. Minutes later, she appeared with something wrapped inside recycled paper that she was carrying very carefully. “Look Mom, I’ve made a pumpkin plant. All we have to do is plant it when we get home and it will grow a pumpkin.” Jenna carried that recycled paper containing dirt and pumpkin seeds with such care for the rest of the afternoon. She was so proud and excited about what she had created, as well as the future when the seeds grow into an actual pumpkin. This got me thinking about women in the world who are carrying their big ideas, dreams, and goals with them—-have you planted them so they will grow, or do you continue to carry them around—possibly in recycled paper, or maybe in your mind?

There are ideas and dreams that we all get excited about, but we never plant the seed or grow the idea. Why? What happens? Life happens. We get busy doing our “to do” list in life. Some of the “to do” list is vital and important and some of it is just plain filler that keeps us from living a life full of energy, passion, and purpose where we are realizing our big ideas and dreams. How do I know this? My daughter Jenna carefully carried her seeds wrapped loosely in paper all afternoon through the event and then home. She put it on the kitchen counter and asked me, “Mom, when will we plant the pumpkin seeds so I can grow a pumpkin?” Do you notice how she said that? She was already realizing her idea before it had occurred. Not only will she plant the seed but it will grow! (more…)

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Smart Women Paint Their Magic Circle

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

I took my daughter Jenna to her Karate class the other day, and after the instructor welcomed all of the children to the class he asked them to “paint your magic circle around you.” I sat there and watched a group of children take their hands and paint an imaginary circle around their bodies and sit down. This exercise was, of course, the instructors attempt to keep 12 five year-olds from running around the room doing things that weren’t meaningful, so that they could stay focused. This got me to thinking about how women “paint magic circles” around their lives as well.

Thankfully, women have a lot of choices in our society today. This can be both good and bad news. Why? Because we can do it all and we do it all very well. Sometimes I think we paint too many “magic circles.” We have the opportunity to fulfill many roles —wife, partner, mom, career, entrepreneur, daughter, volunteer, caregiver, friend—did I leave anything out? With so many responsibilities demanding our time and attention, we need to paint a magic circle called “magic circle for me.” Given all that we do, we rarely take the time necessary for ourselves. It’s crucial that you paint a “magic circle” that is just for you, because you need a place where you can sit and reflect. A magic circle where you can sit and think about where you are right now and where you might want to go next. Sometimes we have “magic circles” where the paint is old, chipped and faded. It’s time to let go of that magic circle and create a new one. Remember, it’s magic, it’s imaginary—you can change it if you want to. Here’s the problem with this sometimes. (more…)

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