Loving the journey, no really!!!

We've seen millions of those inspirational messages with pretty pictures about how life is a journey, not a destination and we need to enjoy the journey right? 


As a travel enthusiast, I so see the truth in the idea. 

As a life enthusiast, I so find the joy in every day, and I think that was the meaning I took from that saying or idea.

As a learning enthusiast, I think I finally get it! 

As a woman entrepreneur, like you, I am on a constant path of learning, improving, building new skills. I have a pile of business books, self-help books, motivational books. I get excited about new ideas and am always trying to improve myself and my business.


In my direct sales business, one of the huge points that is repeated over and over and over again in every training and at every conference ad nauseum is this idea of a big WHY. 
"When your why is big enough, you'll find the how."
I'll be truthful, in 8 years, I've searched and searched and using all the tools and ideologies presented to me, it's never worked for me. Never. 

I'm reading a fabulous book - Networking is Dead - I highly recommend it! I took intense interest in the lesson about confusing the what with the why. "When your why is bigger than your what or your how you become an attractor of possibility."

Finishing up the end of my amazing year working with business coach Christine Gallagher, and preparing for a coaching call this week, I had one of those "big a-has" that we hear so much about.

My why isn't about me. Well, it is in it's what I want to create in the world, but it's not about the vision of the life I want to create for me. That is the result, that's the what. That's not the why. 

I friggin' GET IT!

My why isn't so I can retire from corporate America permanently and become a real, full time, honest to goodness entrepreneur - you know - safety net free. My why isn't the business and the schedule and the income that will allow me to spend the time with my husband I want and travel when and where we want.

I want to work with more women entrepreneurs, in BOTH of my businesses. More importantly, the reason I want that is because I want to serve them. I don’t just want to sell product for the sake of the almighty dollar. I want to help women entrepreneurs to find a way to take the kind of care of themselves that they need and that they know they need. I want to make it not only possible, but even easy for them to make that oh so important time to connect with those most important women in their life. I want to influence a team of leaders to make the same kind of impact, each in their own way. I want to create a community, a family of great women.

And I am SO blessed that I see a bigger vision of the IMPACT I can have on women entrepreneurs than I ever saw before. 

Because of the journey. WOW am I loving it!

So ladies, stay tuned. I am here to serve you. 



Do you want to promote yourself or your business? I will connect you with the BEST networking organization in the US. Over 40 Females combines education and pampering at each uniquely themed event while providing support and encouragement to women on the social and business networking platforms. 

Have you considered that proper self-care is actually a business resource and tool that you should be tending right up there with personal and professional improvement? Let's connect. I would love to help you claim that sacred connection time with those women in your life you've been promising to connect with, and create with you a personal sanctuary so you can make that self-care time at the snap of your fingers.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Click on that commenty box below and share your why or your what or if you just get what I'm saying.  

Trials and Tribulations

Business ebbs and flows. As an employee, that doesn't matter so much to you, unless or until it results in job instability or loss. As an entrepreneur, it matters, as a solopreneur, it matters a lot. 

The business model I'm in is direct sales. It's an awesome business model! But the ebb and flow can be painful. Because we work one on one with our customers, the ebb can feel personal. 

We are trained, with the business comes cancellations and postponements. It's just part of the business, expect them. We are also trained that it is a numbers game, and we understand that cognitively. But, emotionally, well that's another story. 

I'll share what happens to me, it's a cycle I'm working hard to break, and sharing this with all of you is part of how I hope to break the cycle for myself and perhaps help someone else who falls into the same cycle. If no more than to let them know it's not just them.

I'll get into a state of flow. My numbers may not be multiplying, but I'll get in a grove where my actions are in flow and the results I see from those actions start to flow as well. I'll fill my calendar with appointments, feeling good about all the work I put in. 

Then, it happens. Those "to be expected" cancellations and postponements. 

Now that comfy cushy pad of appointments I had set on my calendar starts to grow sparse. Even though I've been told to expect it, even though I've experienced it before, the truth is, it hurts my feelings. I know it shouldn't. But it does. In a business where I work one on one with my customers, I feel like I've been duped, misled, let down. It's not true, it's not rational, but it's how I feel at these times.

Then it becomes a snowball. The hurt turns to frustration and sometimes even anger. Why bother to work so hard to fill my calendar with appointments, when it is all for naught in the end. I become quietly, secretly despondent. On the outside, I look the same. I do some of the same activities, mostly the busywork ones. I tell myself I'm still doing what needs to be done, but not exerting any grand effort. And then the situation simply persists. 

Then the flow will start again, slowly but it doesn't take much. The flow is the juice, it is energy, it fuels. When things are moving forward, it's easy to do the things to keep moving forward, to keep growing. 

Until the next ebb. And they can come at any time, they can come at a time of great flow. In the direct sales model, I've had it when I experience a huge surge in team growth. A great number of my super hosts decide to join my team! Woo Hoo! Just exactly what we want! Except, then all the appointments I have filled my calendar with from their circles transfer to them, leaving holes. 

So, the pat industry answer is to plan for these and over book your calendar and make sure to be expanding in multiple circles all the time. But the truth is that simply isn't always what happens. You can't or simply don't always plan for these things. 

So, where is the self-care lesson in all of this? What do you do when the ebb comes? 

I'm talking about my business, but this can be applied to loads of areas in your life that go swimmingly well for a time then fall off leaving you feeling at a loss. 

Here's my plan: 

1. Acknowledge the hurt. You're allowed to be hurt, even it it's irrational. NOT to your customers, obviously. But to yourself. You can journal about it, meditate, call your best friend to talk it out, sit and have a good cry if you need to. *** NOTE *** this is not permission to wallow. This is a short term expression of the feelings you have.
2. Remind yourself that it is not the end of the world, because it's not. You know these things happened, have happened before and will happen again. And you've seen the other side of them always. The other side is coming.  
3. Make a list of 3 great things happening at this instant in this area.
4. Come up with 1 crazy idea to try to change it right now.
5. Step away for a minute to regroup and collect yourself. This is a great time to do something wonderful for yourself as a special treat. A massage, a great cup of tea or glass of wine, a walk, an intense workout. *** NOTE *** this is not permission to give up for a prolonged period of time. Like step 1, this is a quick break to allow you to come back energized.
6. Do at least 1 ACTIVE thing every day for a week to grow and support this area. You can't count the passive or neutral tasks you do as part of your normal activities.
7. Applaud yourself each day for doing this thing, and take notice of what starts to show up.

You will find that the flow starts again. It may seem like it's magical, it may come from areas not directly related to the actions you take. But things will start to flow, just like they are supposed to. 

I'd love to hear if this is something that you struggle with too. Please share your thoughts in the comments. And, if this plan helps you, I'd really love to hear about that as well!

 

Stress? Everyone's got it. So what? Right?

I know many of you are entrepreneurs, and so you are definitely a step or two ahead of the “average Jane” in that at least, you are passionate about what you do each day. But that doesn’t make it any less stressful. Some may say more stress, I say different stress. You’re not worried about the company layoffs, but you are worried about your company profits and where your next customer is going to come from.

What is your current stress level? 
 
Rate the following questions 1-5 on how true the statements are for you:

1. I find it difficult to keep up with everything going on in my life
2. I never seem to sleep enough
3. My energy isn't what I want it to be
4. I eat too much when I'm nervous
5. I get angry or frustrated over little things
6. I find it difficult to achieve the lifestyle I want
7. I find it difficult to take the time to take care of me
8. Anxiety, frustration, sadness, anger, guilt, or embarrassment get in the way of me enjoying my life
9. I find myself worrying about aspects of my life (1 for each)
   job finances success relationships marriage children

Compare your hand temperature to your neck temperature by touching your neck with the fingertips of both hands. Do your fingers feel colder than your neck? Do your fingers feel warm like your neck?
Warm Hands are Relaxed, Cold Hands are Tense.

If your fingers feel really cold, then you are showing extra tension perhaps too much stress.
If your fingers feel cool, then you are showing some tension.
If your fingers are warm like your neck, then you may be relaxed and comfortable.
If your fingers feel hotter than your neck, then you may be deeply relaxed.

Rate Yourself:

Score:

9-18         You are one cool cucumber, one happy camper. You got it under  
                control. Go YOU! You should share your secrets with your friends.
19-27       You are right on the edge. Still in control, but starting to feel the 
                signs.
28-37       We need to talk! You seriously need to schedule some girl time.     
                Maybe a 2nd glass of wine.
38-46       Danger danger Will Robinson! You are on serious stress overload.
               We need a "6 girlfriends and a bottle of wine" intervention!

Now, if you've read my blog before, you know my top 2 stress relief suggestions. Whether you are able to get together with your girlfriends or not, whether you are able to create a calming space in your home or not, you still need to find your “Happy Place”. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but any of us could get hit by a bus tomorrow stepping off a curb. We have to stop waiting for “someday” to be happy. No more of this “I just have to knuckle down and really work the business now, and when we hit X then I can relax a little and take time to do “all those things”.

Aren’t “all those things” the whole point?

Women more than men as entrepreneurs, and business women make huge sacrifices believing that later, they’ll be able to make up for it, after they achieve their success. They miss the kids’ games, birthday parties, anniversary dinners, girlfriend lunches and they are still making 70 cents on the dollar compared to a man in the same position. Men don’t feel guilty about watching the game instead of mowing the lawn, or playing a round of golf instead of making an appearance at the neighborhood barbecue.
Women work twice as hard, make less money, all while taking care of every household detail. Now I know we are busy, and it’s tough to schedule play time. But isn’t that the whole point? Shouldn’t we take the kind of care of ourselves that we demand for those we love?
 
I know, especially busy women entrepreneurs are high octane people. “I thrive on stress.” Right? “I do my best work under pressure.” Right? But it adds up, and it sneaks up on you like grey hairs and before you know it you burn out.

And aside from the passion you feel for your business, isn’t part of why you want to be a successful business woman just so that you can enjoy “all those things”.  

A turning point in my life was when my husband was laid off from a corporate job that had made him so depressed he was a completely different person. We likened the layoff to when a loved one has been really sick for a long time, and they pass away. It’s sad, but it’s really a relief that the suffering is over. We decided it was our last best opportunity for him to pursue his life long dream rather than go back to doing what he hated somewhere else. We walked away from a 70K income and invested an additional 70K in the additional training he needed.
We decided we didn’t need to suffer any more. My husband’s happiness in his career was more important than his income or our lifestyle. I didn’t know how, but I knew I’d do anything to work it out.
So I started my business alongside my corporate position to supplement our income. Don’t worry, this isn’t a pitch for my “business opp”. Here’s the point, in helping my husband make his dream come true, I not only found a dream I didn’t even know I had, but I figured out that life is supposed to be good and happy. Every day.

 
We learned that it is truly never too late to bring your dream to life. At 43 years of age, my husband got hired as an airline pilot. No more sitting in a cubicle for him. We learned that anything really is possible.
And we’ve figured out that life is about each day, making the most of who we are, where we are and most importantly who we are with.
It turns out it wasn’t just me experiencing this - we all get so busy living life, that we forget to Live Life.

I love this picture. I have this hanging next to my mirror so I see it every morning. These aren’t my words, but it reminds me how great each day can be.

 Waking Up Full of Awesome

There was a time when you were five years old, and you woke up full of awesome.
You knew you were awesome. You loved yourself.
You thought you were beautiful, even with missing teeth and messy hair and mismatched socks inside your grubby sneakers.
You loved your body, and the things it could do. You thought you were strong. You knew you were smart.
Do you still have it? The awesome. Did someone take it from you? Did you let them?...
Look at her. She is full of awesome.
You were, once. Maybe you still are. Maybe you are in the process of getting it back.
All I know is that if you aren’t waking up feeling like this, you are really missing out.


And if you can’t find your awesome every day, find your happy place. Find your thing or list of things that make you smile, or better yet, make you giggle. Maybe your thing is your beautiful daughter, or your handsome son. Maybe your thing is the vacation to Maui you took 2 years ago and you would love to repeat. Maybe your thing is art, something beautiful like Monet. Maybe your thing is music. I definitely can’t have a bad day, when I start it off by shaking my groove thang or singing at the top of my lungs alone in my car.
Maybe your thing is really great shoes, I know I have a certain kind of joy when I’m wearing a really great pair of shoes.
My big “thing” is I find the funny. Truth be told, sometimes I find the funny in inappropriate things or situations, and I have to stifle my giggle. More truth be told, sometimes I’m more successful at giggle stifling than others.

And here the secret formula:
Start your day with that thing. Before you walk out the door, or pick up the phone for your first business conversation, go to your happy place. Give yourself the gift of 30 seconds - heck go for it and maybe give yourself a whole minute. Think about your thing. Look at yourself in the mirror with that huge smile on your face.
And then, when you feel your stress levels on the rise, take a moment, take a breath, and go to your thing, your happy place, and (if it’s not completely inappropriate) give yourself the gift of that smile again.

You’ll be surprised how much just that moment in your happy place will drain some of that stress away.

All work and no play...

If you recognize this image, you know what happened to Jack. 

Now, we are not in a Stephen King novel, nor are we stuck in a secluded snowed in resort in the middle of winter with supernatural forces playing against our sanity.

However, we are working women, women business owners, women entrepreneurs. When there is work to be done, we are the ones to do it, right? We have a business to run and a household to run.

Here is the danger. Real life poses a much bigger threat than any thriller novel could capture. We also have a life to run. And not just run, enjoy. 
I mean E N J O Y!!!! Savor, indulge, live, experience!!!

We only get one shot at this thing called life. This isn't a dress rehearsal.

If we stay buried in work, our life will pass by without our participation. 

I know it's not Christmas, but my mind turns to Scrooge in the Dickens novel. Through a series of life events, he chose to bury himself in his work to the neglect of all those around him. The spirits showed him that if he didn't change his ways, he would end up alone.

I am certainly not suggesting that you will end up alone, nor will you end up going insane and on a rampage like Jack in The Shining. 

But you are going to miss the best parts of life waiting for them to come. 

Work is truly important. More for women entrepreneurs than for any other segment of the working world, because we are working with a mission, a purpose. We are striving daily to bring more joy, health, freedom, and the list goes on to the world. For many, our work IS a source of joy and that is a blessing and a gift.

But this does NOT exclude you from the need to play!!!!!! 

Every day find a way to play. You don't have to take the afternoon off, but do it. 

• If you pass a park with a swing on your lunch break, take 5 minutes and soar
• If you are walking down a sidewalk that has been chalked with a hopscotch board, HOP
• Look up at the clouds and SPIN - unless you have vertigo of course
• Turn off the television and computer and pull out a board game tonight
• Blow bubbles 

Find a way to play.

Today, I am going on a picnic, and then a sail on a Tall Ship on Lake Michigan along the Chicago skyline with my amazing husband. 

I'd love to hear how you played today!

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Why should I care anyway?

So week by week I share tips and hints on how to reduce your stress level and find ways to be happy today instead of waiting for that "someday" to come along.



Many of you are women entrepreneurs, and maybe you find yourself sitting there saying so what? 
Why should I care about this stuff anyway? 
I'm up to my ears in an effort to find a balance between my work and my family. 
I just don't have time to even think about this self care stuff. 
And stress? Well it just comes with the territory. If I didn't realize that, I wouldn't be in this business in the first place.






Women entrepreneurs are innovators, risk takers, and unlike male entrepreneurs, they have a big mission they are working to share with the world. And that's where you tell yourself you get your daily dose of happiness. When you feel you are making a difference, when you see your mission coming to reality you say - that's what makes me happy. But I'd be willing to wager, that is what gives you a sense of satisfaction. And satisfaction is NOT the same as happiness.

 

I saw a sign in a pub once that read 
"FREE BEER TOMMORROW".
I think women entrepreneurs, especially mompreneurs wear a sign that reads "I'll be happy tomorrow".

I was reading this article today and I have included an excerpt here...

Stress management strategy #5: Make time for fun and relaxation

Beyond a take-charge approach and a positive attitude, you can reduce stress in your life by nurturing yourself. If you regularly make time for fun and relaxation, you’ll be in a better place to handle life’s stressors when they inevitably come.
Healthy ways to relax and recharge

    Go for a walk.
    Spend time in nature.
    Call a good friend.
    Sweat out tension with a good workout.
    Write in your journal.
    Take a long bath.
    Light scented candles.
    Savor a warm cup of coffee or tea.
    Play with a pet.
    Work in your garden.
    Get a massage.
    Curl up with a good book.
    Listen to music.
    Watch a comedy.

Don’t get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to take care of your own needs. Nurturing yourself is a necessity, not a luxury.
Set aside relaxation time. Include rest and relaxation in your daily schedule. Don’t allow other obligations to encroach. This is your time to take a break from all responsibilities and recharge your batteries.
Connect with others. Spend time with positive people who enhance your life. A strong support system will buffer you from the negative effects of stress.
Do something you enjoy every day. Make time for leisure activities that bring you joy, whether it be stargazing, playing the piano, or working on your bike.
Keep your sense of humor. This includes the ability to laugh at yourself. The act of laughing helps your body fight stress in a number of ways.

Maybe I sound like a broken record. Maybe I sound young and naive (by the way I'm over 40). Maybe I sound like Bobby McFerrin.

But I'll tell you what, if you ask anyone that talks to me, I'm one of the happiest people they know. And I'm always that way. Part of that is because I choose it, every day. Some days I have to choose it over and over ;) But a really big part of it is the things I share with all of you. The things in the article excerpt above.

• I have a "me place" in my home.

• I light candles almost every day (it helps that I get them all for free of course - I can hook you up too - ping me)

• I take time every day to be fun, be spontaneous, be silly.

• I laugh every single day. Some days I feel like I can't stop laughing.

• I surround myself with like minded people who lift me up.

• I say "YES" to me at least once a week, that may be a massage, a bottle of wine with my best girlfriend, a soak in the tub, a great read in a cozy chair. Whatever my choice, it's something that I do for me and no one else with no guilt and no regret.

So why should you care?

• Nothing runs on burnt out batteries
  
• Wouldn't you like more joy in your life EVERY DAY? 

• Don't you deserve to receive the type of care you give to and demand for those you love?

• If you were talking to your sister, mother, best girlfriend and she was stressed out and about to burst, what advice would you be giving her right now?

• Today is the day to be HAPPY! We're never guaranteed tomorrow. Have big dreams and goals and aspirations, but don't put your happiness on hold until you get there.

Suddenly this song started playing in my head, so I thought I'd share it with all of you too. I know I can't help but smirk when I hear it.

C'mon get happy! 

If you've forgotten how, we SO need to talk! I can totally help you get your giggle on!!

P.S. Ready to reduce your stress? 

Claim your F.R.E.E. report on why and how to take better care of YOU 

@ www.WineWomenandWax.biz

Kids have it right

A lot of kids get a bad rap these days. We hear much lamenting about when I was young we this and we that, and kids today are spoiled, and don't know what life is all about... but kids still have it right.

 
I was introduced to this boy this week, I absolutely LOVE him and simply can't get enough. I have probably watched this video 15 times. 


Kids live in the moment. They don't put their dreams on hold, they don't set their happiness aside for another day. They have it right.

I read a blog post today by Jane Powell (love her too). She gets it too. 

I forgot for a while myself. 

It's easy to forget. We go through college and someone tells us it's time to work for what we want, and grow up and stop living with our heads in the clouds. Then we go to work and we put our dreams and our happiness on hold for "someday".

Luckily for me, my run on the hamster wheel was interrupted. My life changed when my husband was laid off in 2005 from a corporate job that had made him so depressed he was a completely different person. We likened the layoff to when a loved one has been really sick for a long time, and they pass away. It’s sad, but it’s really a relief that the suffering is over. We decided it was our last best opportunity for him to pursue his life long dream rather than go back to doing what he hated somewhere else. 

We took a huge leap and walked away from a 70K income and invested another 70K in the additional training he needed.

We decided we didn’t need to suffer any more. My husband’s happiness in his career was more important than his income or our lifestyle. I didn’t know how, but I knew I’d do anything to work it out.

So I started my business alongside my corporate position to supplement our income. I found in helping my husband make his dream come true, I not only found a dream I didn’t even know I had, but I figured out that life is supposed to be good and happy. Every day.

We enjoyed an AMAZING summer along the journey while he was building his hours.
I'll tell you... I can't WAIT until we own our own private plane. I loved driving to the airport and just getting in the plane. I loved the FBOs, kind of like a first class lounge, but it's for the private aircrafts. I loved being able to watch Mike and Jay or one of the other pilots he flew with fly the plane. On a trip back from Atlanta, GA we saw the most amazing lightning storm. Cool stuff!

We learned that it is truly never too late to bring your dream to life. At 43 years of age, my husband got hired as an airline pilot! No more sitting in a cubicle for him. We learned that anything really is possible!

And we’ve figured out that life is about each day, making the most of who we are, where we are and most importantly who we are with.

I look around and see that it wasn’t just me experiencing this - we all get so busy living life, that we forget to Live Life.

It is now my mission in life to help people find their happiness every day. Whether that is making their whole home sparkle and smell amazing, or creating a special space where they can escape and regroup, or giving them the chance to reconnect with some of the most important people in their life, or helping someone create a new career and like me, learn to dream bigger dreams.

It's easy to forget. And it's funny. You know the people who make amazing things happen in the world... the innovators, the memory makers, the Disneys and Gates and Mother Theresas of the world... they never stop dreaming. And that's what makes them great.


So today be a kid. Go out and play. Share what you will do for the sheer joy of it! Share the dream you dare to dream!

P.S. Ready to reduce your stress? 

Claim your F.R.E.E. report on why and how to take better care of YOU 

@ www.WineWomenandWax.biz

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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!  

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!

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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. 

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• 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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