Today is the only day that we have

Time...

Is it just me, or did we all think our parents were insane when they told us that time goes faster and faster as you grow older? WOW were they right!

This time of year, it's so easy to look back and reflect on lazy summer days. Didn't summer seem to last forever?

Remember being BORED? HA What a concept! Can you remember the last time you were bored?

As women entrepreneurs, we are always seeking better time management skills, training and techniques. Trying to squeeze an extra hour or two into any given day.

I posit that a large contributor to the phenomenon of time moving ever faster is our lack of ability to be present in the moment. We are always thinking about the next thing on the list, and the more we do that, the faster time goes. Certainly this isn't true 100% of the time, sometimes things that are magical just go by in a flash despite being fully present - like your wedding day, or Christmas morning. I think that's part of the magic maybe :)

My wish for you today, is that you be fully present in today. Today is the only day that we have. There are no guarantees. As a girl who was struck by a car as a pedestrian not once, but twice in my grade school years I can positively say that any one of us can step off of a curb and be hit by a car or a bus. There are no guarantees.

It's still important to have a schedule and a plan and all of those things. But take some time to breathe in the space you're in and enjoy today. 

It's the only day we have!  

The Hokey Pokey, Best Laid Plans and Going with the Flow

We enjoyed a wonderful exhausting weekend with friends this past weekend. We had friends in from out of state and we not only enjoyed a concert for a band who hasn't toured the US in a decade or so, but enjoyed much food, drink and laughter with friends we rarely get to see, and my pilot husband was home for the entire weekend which is almost as rare as our friends' visit.

Saturday, we met for dinner and drinks, went to the show and then went for some nosh, drinks and chatting afterwards, getting home about 3:30 am on Sunday (this pic was taken about 2:30 am Sunday I believe) when we planned to do some Chicago sightseeing with our friends.

Sunday didn't quite go as planned. We were thinking we'd get together around 1pm, lunch and visit the sights in the city. Our friends seriously over slept (much needed) and we didn't start our Sunday visit and sightseeing until 5pm. What was planned to be an afternoon of sightseeing followed by an evening where we found ourselves back at home by 8pm ended up an evening when we got home at 1am. As the only member of our group who needed to be up and at the office this morning, I could have called it an early night, or spent the evening thinking about how I needed to be home and in bed to be rested for my work week and I would have missed out on some great, rare and fleeting memories with dear friends.

So thankful that my husband and I were "all in", and able to go with the flow and enjoy one of life's greatest pleasures, Good Times with Great Friends.

At 9:00 when I was planning to be home, unwinding for the evening, we were headed up to the skydeck of the Sears (now Willis) Tower. We enjoyed the fantastic view, frightened our 2 acrophobic group members in this crazy clear floor outcropping, and pointed out cool Chicago landmarks. We returned to drop our friends at their hotel, and my good friend, also one of my favorite singers burned us a copy of his new upcoming album. As we went to our car to make sure it would play in our player, he suggested we grab dessert and 1 more drink. At 10:30 we were walking down Michigan Avenue headed to Grand Lux Cafe. I admit, I'm a little surprised to say that at no time did I check my watch, or worry about how my lack of sleep would affect my Monday. We were in the moment and I'm so happy for it.

Driving in to the office this morning, listening to my pre-release copy of a much anticipated album, I can't think how lucky I am. To be surrounded by such extraordinary people in my life.

As women entrepreneurs we must recognize and seize opportunities not only for great business partnerships, expansion and growth, but also and perhaps more importantly opportunities to Live our Life to the fullest, NOW.

What if we played "all in" every day? Like the Hokey Pokey. How much of life's remarkable experiences do we allow to pass us by because we're preoccupied, worried about tomorrow, or that list of to-dos and obligations.

I don't espouse neglecting our commitments, nor do I recommend going without a plan. There are many times when we need to focus, stay on track and work hard to make the goals we've set or get the results we require. Those are super important things that do require our focus and attention.

As women entrepreneurs, we have so much on our plate every day. So many commitments to our business, our families, our friends, loved ones, and colleagues. We have lists of chores to maintain our households, keep our children on schedule and on track, and the list goes on and one. It's SO easy to be focused on "the next thing" that you fail to truly take time to notice THIS thing.

So, when you make a decision to be with someone, or to be somewhere, BE THERE. ALL IN.

How many times to you see people on their smart phone at their children's soccer games? What if you miss a perfect goal, or a spectacular save?

So today - put your whole self in and shake it all about, do the Hokey Pokey and turn yourself around.
Cause THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!

Women work so hard

I received a great tweet this week from Cassandra Washington @exceedlearning. 

"Wow! Women wrk so hard. They nd a space 2 relax."

How true is that? 

• What woman you know doesn't do at least 3 jobs?
  
• Who makes it look effortless most of the time?
  
• Who doesn't get thanked enough?
  
• Who slowly and quietly gets more overwhelmed each day?
  
• Who will never complain about the load she bears?

We all know how important it is to take care of ourselves, but we often neglect it. 

When you make a space to relax in your home, at least you have a go-to spot when you need to regroup and your girlfriends and a bottle of wine don't happen to be handy.

Need Inspiration? Check out my website or my Pin Boards. While you're at my site, don't forget to sign up to get my BONUS Report ~ How to create your personal sanctuary. 

You work so hard, you need a space to relax!

 
 

Summer Time and it is HOT

Kind of hard to believe that the first day of summer is actually tomorrow. It feels like it's been summer for weeks already! I feel like I win some huge prize every day the weather man overestimated our top temps for the day.

We had some panic over the weekend as the air conditioning in my truck went kaput Thursday afternoon, and being married to your auto mechanic, who also happens to be an airline pilot gone for 4 days during which you have an event to be at where you are trying to look like a professional definitely cranked my stress meter (and my cranky meter for that matter) up to 11.

My poor husband who is unaccustomed to a cranky wife was trying to talk me out of my ire Friday night and I was having none of it. I felt like I deserved to be angry and I wanted to be angry and stay angry. 


My event was a 45 minute to an hour drive away, traffic dependent, and I was anticipating driving with all the windows down in the truck and sweating and being miserable before the event even started. 

I was so thankful for my husband's tough love and lack of empathy. I know, that sounds crazy, but he refused to let me wallow. I was laying on the couch, snuggled with our sweet dog, and just stewing in my own anger. And he knew that was not going to make anything better. He counseled me to get up off of the couch and do something fun, like play with our awesome puppy (that's him there, and he has recently earned novice, intermediate and advanced tricks certifications) :) and practice some of his new tricks or play with his fun toys. AND he made me smile and even laugh before he hung up the phone.

I'm so thankful for him! I woke up Saturday morning and it was lovely. I had the back window open and didn't need to roll down the windows at all. I was not sweaty or disheveled when I arrived at my event. And the event, which was outdoors all day and wonderful, was shady and breezy and comfortable despite the weather man's threats.  


I rarely succumb to those horrors they call worry or anticipated bad news.

We all need a best friend like that sometimes. Someone who won't let us wallow. We think we want a friend to just listen and tell us we're right and we should be mad and stay mad and they'll hang out and be mad with us. Who is that serving?

When we do that, we feel our stress levels go down half a point, maybe a point, just by the sheer fact that we've shared our burden with someone else. But think about what we're doing. That girlfriend, mother, sister that you shared with ... didn't she probably have her own stuff to think about?

As women, we're amazing listeners. We have broad shoulders and we can always take on 1 more burden. Until we can't. Let's not tempt that fate.

I hope you have a best friend like mine, who will quietly listen until you are done ranting and then tell you in no uncertain terms to knock it off. Because you should, and you know you should.

And if you don't I'll be that friend today. If you find yourself stewing about something that you can do nothing to change. Take the advice I took. Find a reason to smile, laugh even. Do something that brings you joy. 




It's summer. We need to keep cool in more ways than one, don't we?

Let your smile change the world. Don't let the world change your smile.

Cheers!

Keeping Commitments

As women, we are wired to be pleasers, nurturers, care takers, problem solvers and issue resolvers. We care for our families, we care for our girlfriends, we care for our girlfriends' families, we care for our colleagues, our employees, our business associates. 

We take very seriously every commitment we make to every person in our lives. 

We would be horrified to let any of them down.

 


And this is a HUGE factor to our ever increasing stress levels. We are awesome, but we can't always do everything for everyone every day.




But this post is NOT about learning to say no to those around you.

This post is about learning to say yes to the most important person you need to be keeping your commitments to... YOURSELF!

How many of us have lists of things we want to do for ourselves, that get pushed to the side because we are busy keeping our commitments to everyone around us? Some of these commitments are simple, even trivial ... getting your hair cut, colored or highlighted. Exercising. Making a healthy lunch for yourself.
And that's why it's easy to justify, and dangerous.

When we run out hours in our day, the things that we cut out are almost ALWAYS our commitments to ourselves. If we always say no to the things we know are important to us, who will say yes to them?

I've noticed this happen to me this week. I'm cracking down on my diet and it's been hard to stay on track, but I have so far (the whole 3 1/2 days). BUT, my commitment to my half marathon training has gone by the wayside every one of those days this week, in order for me to keep a commitment to someone else in my life. My health, fitness and weight loss goals are important to me. I woke up today thinking... how will I reach them if I don't make MY needs a priority. 

We feel a sense of accomplishment and pride when we keep our commitments to others, why don't we feel the same accomplishment and pride when we keep them to ourselves. 

Who will say yes to your needs if not you? If you're super lucky, you have an amazing girlfriend that will rein you in and hold you accountable. So you keep your commitments to yourself ONLY in an effort not to let HER down. But it's better than nothing :) 

I'll be that girlfriend today. Pick 1 thing that you've told yourself you want to do for you this year, this month, this week. And make it a priority to keep your commitment to YOU. 

This is a habit we all need to develop!  


Share the 1 commitment you are going to keep to yourself this week! I'd love to hear them!

Related articles

• committment...working on this daily...

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What are you waiting for? Celebrate Today!

In the recent few weeks, I've joined a mastermind group with several other women entrepreneurs. In just the short weeks since we've started, it's been so exciting to share and support one another and see the great things each one in the group is achieving. 

I'm brought back often to some words of counsel from the amazing lady who is leading the group, Christine Gallagher. Take time to notice and celebrate your achievements along the way. 

As women entrepreneurs, we are always operating in the middle of a long to do list, goal list, project list. When we are not focused on what we didn't do, which, as women, we do far to much of, we are focused on the next item on the list. 

When is the last time you took time to notice and celebrate your achievement?

Like most of the joys in life, we do not need to wait until the goal line to celebrate. If your daughter brought home a test or paper with an A on it, would you tell her that you'll celebrate at the end of the quarter or semester when you see her grade on her report card? Or would you celebrate the achievement in that moment?

I suspect we all know the answer.  

One thing we are fabulous at as women is cheering one another on. 

I'd love to enable your celebration this week, and cheer for you with exuberance. Share one great thing you accomplished last week, or already today if you're off to a smashing start to your week. 

Related articles

• Female Entrepreneur Spotlight: Monique Wells

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Why did you do it?

Women business owners and entrepreneurs, why did you do it?




Why did you decide to start your own business? What was your inspiration? What did you hope to gain? What were you trying to get away from?



I think for most women entrepreneurs, they started their business because they dreamed of a better life. 


More financial abundance, more time with their family, vacations, a nicer car and home, more security, more fun, more HAPPINESS.










So, since you took this great leap, how much of that are you experiencing EVERY DAY? Are you taking the time to do those things that bring you joy each day, or each week, or are you busting your hump and promising yourself that that celebration time will come in the future, after you x and y and z?

Work hard, but don't forget to play hard too. Take some time each day to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
 
Don't get so busy living life, that you neglect to Live your Life!

Related articles

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2012/05/08/21-reasons-you-became-an-entrepreneur/ 

http://marlamurasko.com/blog/inspiring-information-about-woman-entrepreneurs/

 

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What if you could recreate your favorite spa or vacation at home?

Your home should be your sanctuary. The place you feel safe, secure, welcome and happiest of all.
So why is it that we look so forward to a day at the spa or a weekend away?
It's more than just the disconnection from the to-do list, screaming kids, and nagging spouse, though that certainly helps.

It's more than the massage, or facial or beach chair.

When you look around you at the spa, all the things you see are filled with beauty. They are meant to create a sense of serenity, peace, joy, calm. 

And just by looking at these things, 
 you feel those feelings. You allow yourself to let go of that mental to-do list. You turn down the volume on the voice of that inner nag. You allow yourself to focus on just you, on just the moment that you're in.

When you look around your home, you probably don't feel the same way. 

But what if you could?

What if you could recreate that experience of the spa, or your favorite vacation in your home?
How would you feel if every day, when you walked into your bathroom, you felt like you were walking into a spa?
How would you feel if every day, when you walked into your home office, you were reminded of the weekend at a rented beach house with your family?
How would you feel if every day, when you walked into your living room, you were transported to the week you spent in Florida when you went to Bush Gardens with the kids and saw giraffes and elephants close up?

Have you ever walked into a beautiful hotel lobby and it just made you exhale and smile?

If you could, and you did recreate one of your favorite experiences, think how that could incrementally decrease your stress levels each day. I'm not implying that you can remove all of your daily stresses by decorating a beautiful bathroom. But imagine, if each day, you walked into a room in your home and it just made you exhale and smile.

Each time that happens, just a tiny amount of your stress will melt away. Every day. 


How would that make you feel?