Do You Have a Dream You Need to Resurrect?

Life moves in a different direction.  Health struggles make you doubt.  And the result is postponing a dream……You are the only person who can decide to pursue your dream.  Whether it is a book you want to write, a business you want to launch or an adventure you want to go on – YOU need to take the first step and keep moving forward.

Have you postponed a dream? Is one of your ideas sitting on the shelf collecting dust? What hope or vision has been left for dead in your life?  Maybe it is time to dust it off and bring it back to life…..Believe it or not, it is not difficult to do.  So how do you do that? What’s the first step to get you started?

Walk through these powerful questions and you will be on your way…..

1. What dream lies dormant in your life you wish were still a possibility?

Is your dream buried so deep, you forgot about it?  Think for a moment. Maybe it is a dream connected to your professional life, finances, relationships, health, or personal life. What is it for you right now?

2. What do you need to give yourself permission to do about it?

There is a reason something important to you has been buried. Whatever the reason you decided you couldn’t pursue it any longer, now is the time to give yourself permission to do it.  Maybe you got hurt in the past and found a safer road to travel.  Maybe life took over and you let your dream die. Or maybe the dream seemed unattainable, so you gave up on it. Let the past be a learning tool to recast your dream. Have the faith to believe nothing is impossible with God.

3. What do you need to say about it?

Did you know the power of life and death is in the words you speak?  Speak life into your dream right now. Say it out loud. Allow yourself to hear the words. There is power in this exercise. Speak life, not death. Then watch how you talk about your dream to others. When you start with all the reasons you can’t have what your heart desires, you speak death to your dream. Each negative word is like a shovel, digging the grave and then piling dirt onto it until you can no longer see the dream at all. Negative words will steal your vision.  Negative words will NOT get you to your dream!

4. What action will you take next?

Faith without action is dead.  Did you know you may have killed your dream by inaction?  BUT when you take action, you can bring it back to life. Do you believe your dream is possible? Then take steps toward it. It doesn’t mean you have to take BIG steps or lots of them you just have to take them!  Even baby steps, when taken consistently, will get you to the finish line.

I challenge you to dust off your old dream! Give it new life.  Think about the dreams lying dormant in your life then answer the four questions above.  Share your dream with us and what is the ONE baby step you will take?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Are You Meeting Your Goals?

I love when other bloggers inspire me….

The first Monday morning of a new month, how I love setting up goals for success.  I am learning how to set goals in all areas of my life in an effort to stay focused.  It isn’t always easy on those “bad days” but there are things I want to accomplish, what about you?

Sometimes we focus on professional/ business goals, sometimes the focus is on personal goals and often it’s both. Regardless of the focus, many times we don’t meet our goals, even when they’re really important to us.  Admit it, I am  not alone, right?

Why?

When I am talking about goals, I don’t mean the proverbial to-do lists, I mean actual goals.    When we are trying to lose weight, the goal is a number on the scale.  In our careers, maybe it is a certain pay or job title.  In our business maybe it is the chance to have our own business which actually pays the bills.  Maybe your goal is freedom from debt.  Whatever it is,  why is it so hard to meet those goals?  You have the desire and motivation, right?  So why don’t we reach them sometimes?

Multi-tasking!  Yup, the main reason most people don’t reach their goals is because they are trying to do too many things at once. As we get ready to set ‘new year resolutions” or as I like to call them “new year goals”, how often do we list out more than two?  Think about how you started this past year, how long was your list of goals?

Maybe you wanted to lose weight, eat better, get a new job, find your passion, be a good mother, create a vibrant social life, start a business and so on. Sound familiar? All are terrific desires, but too much for one person to handle at any given time.

When we try to make lots of changes in our life, it is overwhelming and we become unproductive. Despite years of thinking “multi-tasking” was a good thing, recent studies are showing it is actually less efficient than focusing on one project at a time. WOW!  I was the QUEEN of multi-tasking.  With the onset of MS, I am finding this doesn’t work for me.  The truth is our brains just aren’t wired to do lots of things simultaneously.

Although it’s wonderful to have multiple goals in life (I know I do), the key to success is to step back, examine what you really want right now, and pick ONE goal to focus on. YIKES!  I know it’s hard to do, but if you spend the majority of your time focusing on just one goal, you’ll accomplish it in record time. Determine the steps you need to finish the project, follow those steps daily before you tackle anything else on your daily to-do list.  Remember no more than 3 things on your to-do list a day!

I will admit, my vision board for 2017 was filled with many things.  The reality is, when I focused on just two aspects – things began to happen.

First, I earned the Leadership Incentive Trip.  Then I moved on to being consistent in my business.  The results have been AWESOME!  While reaching for my goals in business, I built strong relationships and strengthened my walk with God.

I am already thinking about my vision board for 2018.  I really do like the simple drawings and words.  Handmade helps me to feel connected with it instead of just cutting out pictures from a magazine.

What’s amazing is with laser focus, you’ll reach the goal sooner and be able to move on to the next goal on your list. Handling your goals one at a time like this will actually enable you to achieve more each year than if you try to complete everything at once.

Set up a time frame (90 days is recommended) to devote yourself to the goal you’ve chosen to focus on first. After 90 days, if you’ve been taking consistent and concentrated actions you’ll have hit the goal – or at least come a lot closer to it than if it was just another item on your list of things to do.  Will some of the other goals overlap?  YES!  Will you make progress in other areas while focusing on one? YES!

Won’t it feel AMAZING this time next year to know you have accomplished the most important goals you’ve set for yourself? Try it for six months and see what happens!

Want to be accountable?  Share your goal with us and then come back in 90-days to share the results.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

Will I Be Accountable?

It is New Year’s Day and for some, it means nursing a hang over while others are ready to jumpstart their resolutions.  Eager to start a new year by letting go of whatever happened in 2016. Letting go is hard but it is when we let go of the past we can quickly move into the promise of the future.

The last year has been a tough one in so many ways for me BUT I am looking forward to starting fresh.  A new me for a new year.

This year’s word is ACCOUNTABLE.  By definition, it means:

: required to explain actions or decisions to someone
: required to be responsible for something

YIKES!  I must admit each time this word popped up as I was searching for “my word”, I quickly tossed it aside.  Fear of failing.  Fear of having to explain my actions.  Fear of letting others down.  You get it, right?  Being accountable would mean I need to share my dreams with others (pretty easy).  I would need to share my plan (not so bad)  I would need to share my successes and my failures in working towards my plan.  Okay, this is where it gets a little tricky for me.  I am great at helping others to achieve their goals BUT honestly, I am not the best at taking my own advice.  This word would mean I need to be utterly transparent.  It means I would need to step further out of my comfort zone then ever before.  It means I would need to learn to love myself (the good, the bad and the ugly) unconditionally.  Yes, Negative Nellie and Doubtful Debbie came to call.  They stayed for about a week while I wrestled through this.  I was not very optimistic.

Then I prayed, I shared the word with some of my tribe and prayed some more.  The result was no matter how hard I prayed or asked for another word, ACCOUNTABLE kept rearing its head. So, with a humble heart, I began to accept this as my word.  Being accountable means in all areas of my life not just my business.  It means watching what I eat to beware of allergies.  It means working my business as a business. It means being fully transparent in my relationships.  It encompasses every aspect of my life which is scary as HELL!

To make it a little easier, I have used the letters as an acronym to come up with the following:

When broke down into these manageable steps, being accountable doesn’t seem so bad.  I have found (I think) an accountability partner and we will work together to reach our goals this year.  I will let down the walls to let others in so I can build lasting relationships which will lead to success.

This year’s goals are:

1. Reach my goal weight by maintaining the new eating plan.
2. Be consistent in my business with book, sell, recruit.
3. Nurture my relationships with my hubby, family and friends
4. Pay off some of my credit card debt.

For those of us who have set goals, you may say – these aren’t good goals.  They are not measurable nor do they have a time frame and you would be right.  I have found those types of goals (resolutions) fall by the wayside and are never obtained.  So, this year I am trying by first laying out my general goals, setting a plan each month to achieve them and then being accountable for each step I take.  The results will be – GOALS MET!

Do you have a word for 2017?  What drew you to the word and what does it mean to you?  Share your word with us…

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

Are You On the Road of Uncertainty?

Happy Friday!

Over the last few weeks, I have felt some uncertainty.  My inner gremlins have been bumping around trying to get out.  Why?  Change…. changing the way I run my business.  Changing the way I do things at home.  Changing my diet due to health issues.  Wondering what I should be doing as a result of all of these health challenges (#mswillnotdefineme).  Change creates doubt and fear, who is with me?

So, today I want to talk about changing uncertainties into positive action.  Whether you are growing a business, running a household, starting a new job or just a new eating plan – uncertainty surrounds us.  First, know that you are NOT alone!  Fear and doubt creeps in all of the time, it is how we handle that makes the difference.

Remember the feeling of being ready to move forward in a challenge?  Everything made sense.  You were ready to conquer the world.  You set a goal and achieved it.  Nothing could stop you.  Hold onto that feeling?  Then something happens to shake that world up.  A weight gain.  Life challenges.  Your business slows down.  You get laid off from your job.  Fear and doubt enters the picture.  Those positive feelings are replaced with doubt.  Now, not only are you uncertain about a specific situation, you have uncertainty about your life.  Right?

Let’s kick “uncertainty” to the curb…..

1. Set a goal. Look at the potential that surrounds you.  Healthy eating is a chance to try new foods.  Expanding your circles if growing a business is a chance to meet new people.  Exercising is a way to get healthy and meet new people.  Look at the long term effects of what this change can do for you.  The goal should be attainable with a little bit of a stretch.
2. Admit to yourself and some one else (friend, hubby, mentor – you pick)  that you are at this place of uncertainty. I know, scary right?  It means letting someone else know you have fears and doubts.  It will also help you to step out of your comfort zone.  It’s time to dig down to the root of the uncertainty so you can move forward.
3. Make a plan.  Make the action steps in the plan, manageable.  A little bit of a stretch but nothing that will paralyze you with fear so you don’t move forward.  Want to eat healthier?  Eliminate junk food from the house & substitute it with something that you can grab and munch on.  Maybe just start with portion control.  Want to grow your business?  Talk to new people who can help you expand your circles like: a teacher that has a school to fish from or a banker that has an entire branch and more to fish from or a preschool mom or worker that has an entire sea of committed moms and employees that would want to raise money or refresh their school or a principal who knows her staff supports her interest, and would support a fun teacher appreciation party of fellowship and fun!
4. Commit to the goal and the action steps in your plan.  You know you can do it. Take it one day at a time or maybe even one hour at a time.  Whatever it takes, stay committed to achieving your goal.  Have fun and be consistent.
5. Your efforts must be continuous. Don’t push hard for a few months or a few days and then let things fizzle.  Yes, life gets in the way BUT you can do it.  When you push hard all the time, you will overcome the obstacles.  New struggles will creep up but since you have achieved success once, you will be able to do it again.

What steps will you take this weekend to KICK uncertainty to the curb?  I would love to hear from you…

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

 

Blogging

It has been awhile since I wrote about my blogging journey…. I have gotten a few questions about where I get topics, what motivates me to write and who reads my blog.  Yes, the old inner gremlins started their song “no one reads your blog“, “why would anyone read your blog” and “you will never be as good as…”   Yet, I know that people are reading my blog.  Okay, so that may sound a little “cocky” but is is because I have worked hard to build my community.

Here are some tips that will help you to build your blog community:

1. Be insanely useful.

Rule #1 is to be so useful people can’t ignore you. Write posts with information where you help your blog community.  Give out free worksheets or e-books.  Write tutorials that are clear and organized, leaving little room for questions.  Experts will say that people are not going to keep coming back if you write about your day-to-day activities or share vague tips.

2. Be consistent.

Picture this: you write an AMAZING post and lots of people read it.  Then you go silent for two weeks. People haven’t had a chance to build a relationship with you. So they forget about you. They move on.  In order to build your audience, you need to be consistent in build your audience.  Create a schedule and stick to it.  An example is: every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Or once a week. Whatever you works for you, make a schedule and stick to it.

3. Make sure your site is focused.

Just because you have a lot of interests, it doesn’t mean that all of those interests belong in your blog.  A focused site with a relevant topics for your ideal community is much better than blogging about everything.  How would you like your friends to tell their friends about your site?  How do you hope they’ll describe it?

4. Utilize social media.

Want to grow your blog?  The best way is through social media.  It is not as if “if you write/ publish a blog, everyone will read it”.  There is no doubt that I have a growing blog community because of social media.  I have begun building relationships that drive people back to my blog posts and products.  The key is to create conversations, share other people’s work more often than your own, and be consistent.

5. Make sure your site is branded.

Your office may be a hot mess, but you want your site to be uncluttered, clear, and visually appealing.  Readers will take you seriously when you have a professional, consistent design.

Thank you to “The Nectar Collective” for these tips.  I would love to hear your best suggestions on blogging.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!