Showing Up

Achieving our goals a lot of times depends on if we decide whether to show up or not. If your goal is to get fit, do you show up at the gym or a class when you say you will? I've been guilty of this one. I've scheduled "gym time" for myself at 6:30 in the morning on my calendar, but I have not showed up yet. The intention was there, but the follow-through was not. Instead of beating myself up about not making it to the gym and feeling guilty, maybe it's time to re-evaluate if this is the right path for me right now. How much of a priority is this among the giant list of other things I'm trying to get done? It's important, for sure, so maybe it's about setting more realistic expectations. Instead of trying to go in every day, maybe I'll start with one day a week for 20-30 minutes. This way, I'm more likely to show up that one time and then I can build up from there.

Aside from exercise, I am also talking about the opportunities that come into our lives. Sometimes it's work related... For example, there was a free conference that I had the opportunity to attend as an alumni of Integrative Nutrition. I debated for some time whether to go or not, not because I didn't want to, but because I would have to figure out a way to pump milk either while I was there or just go for a short duration. I wasn't sure if it would be worth the effort. Trusting that this event came into my life at the right time for a purpose, I ended up going for the morning sessions. I dutifully made sure I pumped right before I left, but obstacles came up that made my journey into the city more difficult. The train was under construction, so I had to take the bus. One more thing to figure out that would also cut down on my time in between pumping sessions. I trusted that what I needed to hear at the conference would be while I was there, so I went.

I wasn't sure how much I would get out of the conference, but boy was I happy I went! I heard the right messages that I needed to hear, I met a person that I could keep in touch with, heard an amazing talk by Deepak Chopra, and was inspired by my fellow alumni with all they are doing in their lives. The energy was palpable and I knew it was a good thing I came. Somehow, this event was going to propel me forward in my journey towards creating my own career.

The other opportunities that come into our lives can disguise themselves as being social in nature. I was invited to go meet a friend for drinks. It coincided with my baby's bedtime and since I was the only one that could put her to bed, I was reluctant to go. Instead of giving up, however, I decided to try and see if there was a way that my husband could put the baby to bed. For the next few days after the invite, I either nursed her and then he rocked her to sleep, or he tried giving her a bottle to see if he could put her down by himself. After a few days, it worked! And although she woke up sometimes as frequently as every hour after she went to sleep, he was able to rock her back to sleep! This freed me up and I was able to go out (minding my pumping schedule of course), and I was so glad that I did. I met new people and had conversations with my friend and others that really gave me new ideas, taught me some new things, inspired me, and supported me. It was what I needed at that time to get me back into the fashion scene and mingle with old classmates so that I wasn't in a mom world bubble.

What usually happens if you show up, is that one thing leads to another. I showed up, had some interesting conversations, someone needed some help looking for a job, so I offered to reach out to a contact I had to see if there were any openings. Although I initially did this to help someone else, this email I sent out ended up helping me more than anyone else! Through the friendly conversation, I was given some pretty good advice that I really needed to hear to help steer me and give me confidence to start making my own clothes. It planted a seed.

But, that wasn't the only thing that came out of that night. My friend invited me to a session she was having with her old professor to learn some patternmaking techniques and invited me along. I could have just stayed at home, but instead, I decided to hire a nanny for that day and make it there. It was rare opportunity for me to meet a teacher that I hadn't met while I was at school and to learn (or re-fresh my memory) of something that was good for me to know. I knew the skill would also come in handy. The private session was not just about patternmaking, but there were discussions about how to work while being a mom, about how the fashion industry, and other conversations that gave me some good insight. Then this session led to a follow-up session and now the door is open for me to reach out to this professor for help with any patternmaking questions I have.

But there were other things I was able to get out of these sessions too... some recommendations for some amazing videos to watch and a book to buy that would help me experiment with different techniques. Also, a recommendation on a bookstore to visit. So, there was my next step... visit that bookstore to look for that book. I then showed up at the bookstore 2 days later (I wrapped it around the second session and hired the nanny for a half day too), and started browsing the shelves. I intended to buy that book (which happened to be out of stock there), but ended up finding some incredible Japanese magazines that I could use as inspiration, and Eco-Fashion book that was exactly what I was looking for and would save me a ton of research time, and I also picked up a random innovative origami book that really called out to me for some reason. And of course I couldn't help myself but to enjoy some decaf coffee and try a Japanese pastry.

And then, that's not the end of the story. It keeps going on and on. Each thing leads to the next. I read something in my email that triggers another action and some more learning, and I see something that sparks another idea, and I watch something on TV that gives me some more insight, and on and on it goes. Each of these tiny steps leads you step by step to the bigger picture and to your ultimate goal if you decide to just show up. Things just unfold. Step by step, if you're paying attention. Trust that you are at the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. It may not all make sense right now, but it does come together. I'm starting to see everything come together and it's pretty amazing. Everything that seemed so unrelated is not converging into something that is really an amazing overall concept. And I'm finally beginning to see clearly through the fog. What lies ahead is a magical adventure in which we are guided to the next step, and all we need to decide and do is to show up.

Success Story: Terry's Toffees

An incredible story about how a new business can be born effortlessly. It all started with the book, The Artist's Way.

The Power of Love

For many years now, I have been searching for my life purpose, which led me to change the question that I asked from "what is my life purpose?" to "how can I serve?". Everyone's life purpose involves service of some kind. Our life purpose is about sharing our gifts and talents with the world. It can be service in the literal sense of helping others through volunteer work, philanthropy, helping out a family or friend, etc., but can also include things we get paid to do, such as our jobs, things we just love to do, such as hobbies or creative projects, or things we do because we feel compelled to do them, such as healing work or taking action on things  because you feel like you should do it at that moment.

The main thing is to give of yourself to the world by sharing your gifts and your love, and to shine the light within you outwards so that others may see it. When we hide our talents or let them go unused, the light inside us dims. It is the same when we withhold love from others. We are witholding that love from ourselves. Our nature is to shine brightly by doing what we love to do, and if we don't let ourselves go down this path, a deeper yearning will find you to nudge you and encourage you to go and do the things you love rather than doing a job just for money.

I have been going down this path and it has led me to unexpected things... from feng shui, pranic healing, meditation, angel therapy, personal development, social networking sites, youtube videos, spiritual journeys, fashion design, and integrative nutrition. As strange as this process has been for me, looking back, I realize how important each and every step of this process has been towards creating the life that I want, helping me discover my passion, and thus helping me move towards fulfilling my life's purpose. One thing I have realized is that my life purpose is not something where I can say one day, "I know what it is and I have arrived." Instead, it is a growth process and we are all here enrolled in this school called Earth to grow, expand, become more aware, and learn to share our love with the world.

In order to share our love with the world we must do what we love, as often as we can, until we can do it every moment of the day. Step by step we shed the things that no longer serve us, let go of the burdens we've been carrying, and then step out and walk into our dreams with the faith that everything will work out for the best, prepared to do whatever it takes to follow this path through until the end. This process is not always easy--there will be days where we find our joy and bliss, but other days where life will challenge us to make sure this is what we really want and to see if we are truly committed towards making our dreams a reality. We learn to become comfortable with the unknown and with who we really are.

If we are currently too attached to roles and titles, those will be removed from our lives so that we can see ourselves fully without those titles. If we are too attached to our belongings and things, we will start to experience situations that help us learn to detach from our things. What is within each of us is more important than attachment to material possessions. It is okay to have a lot of material possessions, as long as the attachment to them is not there.

Each aspect of our lives is there to teach us and to show us what we, as co-creators with the universe, are creating in our lives. We create what we predominantly focus on. By stepping back to observe ourselves and go within, we learn to identify the burdens, limiting beliefs, old wounds, and bottled up emotions we carry from our past. We learn to see them for what they are (limiting beliefs, self-pity, playing the role of victim, old traumas, or situations that we just don't want to carry around for the rest of our lives), we face them, and then we let them go. It is by going through this darkness that we can enter the light. It is by facing our fears that we can move into that space of love. And as we do what we love, we can live from a place of love, and the more love and gratitude we have in our lives every day, it becomes easier to love ourselves, our lives, and everyone else around us.

As we begin to love those around us, we begin by loving those that are nice to us, that treat us with love and kindness. Eventually, as our love and respect for ourselves and our lives grows, we learn to love all others (even those that are not always pleasant), and we learn to forgive and to let go, in order to heal ourselves, and then to heal others. This is the process I have moved through. I am now living from a place where I have learned to identify judgment (from myself or from others). I have learned to first recognize that it is there, face it, and then let go of those beliefs and thoughts and realize that those judgments are a reflection of how I feel about myself. When I let go of these thoughts, beliefs, and feelings, I heal myself. As I continue to heal myself, my life gets lighter and lighter as each of the burdens I carry are removed. As I let go, any blocked emotions in my body are released. My life gets easier and as I start to feel more free, I start to believe that life can be easy, that it is supposed to be fun, joyful, and effortless, much like how water runs down a stream. Life is supposed to flow.

Life does flow, as long as we allow it to flow. We let it flow by letting go and surrendering the things that no longer serve us and by moving towards the things that bring us joy. We bring our lives and our bodies back into balance as nature designed. During this process we realize that we were never alone, that we are never alone. We have had help all along through our trials and tribulations. Not only were we loved by friends, family, and the people we've met along the life's journey, but we we are also deeply loved by the earth, the universe, God (or god), guardian angels, our ancestors, and by all spiritual beings that reside in other realms. We are all one spirit, a collective consciousness, connected in this web of life by things beyond our comprehension.

It is from this space that we realize that our divine purpose is to spread our love, our light. We do this unconsciously when we do what we love, every moment, of every day. Our bodies vibrate at a different frequency that we broadcast out into the world and everyone around us when we are in a state of love. We can do this consciously by sending love from our hearts directly into the hearts of those that need love to heal, including Mother Earth. We also do this when we send our prayers out into the world. We are sending our love, compassion, and healing energy out to those that need us. In this way we are providing additional service to the world. As small as this gesture seems, it is making a BIG impact on the lives of others in ways that you cannot see or understand. Just like a little candle can light up an entire room, your light can give hope to others around you, just because you are being you... because you are living in your truth, because you are living an authentic life. You are living the life you were meant to live. This is your gift to the world.

Do what you love. Live in peace, love, and joy. Do what brings you happiness, moment by moment, every single day. Follow your intuition and quiet your mind. Your heart will guide you every single step of the way. You can create the life you want to live, but you must decide to go down that path. You must choose joy. It is your choice.

Choose joy and share your inner light with the world. Live a happy life filled with peace, love, and joy. By being peace, love, and joy, you spread peace, love, and joy... just by being it and living it. You are becoming a shining example of how life was meant to live. Just as Ghandi said, "Be the peace you wish to see in the world," you too can BE peace to change the world.

Love has the power to heal...to heal ourselves, to heal others, to heal our homes, our planet, and our lives. Choose joy. Choose love. And choose to live in the light. With every step it gets easier as you see the fruits of the seeds you have sown. It gets easier to believe that it is working, that the path we are walking is safe and supported, and to believe that we really do deserve to do what makes us truly happy, despite whatever financial situation you may be in. Your needs will ALWAYS be met. I have experienced this first hand. The world is conspiring to help you succeed as you choose to go in the direction of love. You meet the right people at the right time. The resources you need will come to you in unexpected ways. And any time you may feel stuck, just ask for help! Literally. Say "help!" either out loud or in your mind and help will come your way. The world hears you and is supporting you even when you don't notice its support.

And lastly, be grateful for every blessing that comes your way, no matter how small. Gratitude brings more blessings. The world is yours. You get to design your life, your experiences, and how you will use your talents to share them with the world. Life is fun. Do what excites you! Give yourself permission to live your dreams. Start today! Sending you much love, light, and blessings for a happy and joyful life.

Napoleon Hill talks about his meeting with Andrew Carnegie

Watch this video of Napoleon Hill talking about the advice Andrew Carnegie gave him that changed his life:

Susan Boyle Achieves Her Dream

What a wonderful inspiration she is to all of us and an example to us that dreams do come true. Keep dreaming your big dreams, for dreams do come true!

From Food Stamps to Abundance

Kate Winslet on Who She Acts For

When you get to the state where you do what you do for yourself and don't really care about the opinions and reviews because what you do fulfills you, you have found your calling. When you're in that place, it doesn't really matter what anyone says. You do what you do because you love it.

The Importance of Taking Time Off

Are you one of those people that are constantly working, working, working? You can be found working on your to-do list, doing chores, working, running errands, taking care of family matters. And maybe you can fit in some exercise on a good day, but maybe most of the time you find that you don't have the time to do the things that you always wanted to make time for. These are the things that always seem to take a back seat, like your hobbies, reading a book, learning a foreign language, taking a class, or traveling around the world. These peripheral desires seem to be less important compared to the more urgent and more pressing matters that seem to occupy your days, but are these hobbies really less important?

Do not underestimate the power of these "other" activities. It is through these activities that we play, create, learn, use our imagination, and expand our minds. These activities are essential to our evolution as spiritual beings. Taking time off and giving ourselves time to nurture the other things we long to do can have a profound impact in all aspects of our lives.

In this video Stefan Sagmeister gives a presentation at a TED conference to illustrate the importance of taking time off. It's a truly remarkable journey that he goes through and shares in a very compelling way. Take some time to watch this one. It's very, very good. I think I'm going to consider restructuring my future to build in "time off" just like he did. Maybe not every seven years, but possibly a portion of every year dedicated to "me time."

Enjoy!



What do you long to do that you have not given yourself permission to do? Maybe it's time to consider re-prioritizing your list and putting some of those things you've always wanted to do at the top of your list.

The Boy Who Built a Windmill to Fight Famine

This story is amazing. William Kamkwamba was a guest on Jon Stewart's show. He is the author of the new book, "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind," which is an autobiographical story of William's mission to fight famine in his country of Malawi by building a windmill just from pictures in a book from a library.

Watch the video here.

You can visit William's blog here.

What an amazing story! Incredible. His book is available on Amazon.

Interview with Dr. John Demartini

A great interview with Dr. John Demartini where he shares his challenges growing up, shares a lot of insights and wisdom, and also talks about love in his life.

Oprah's Acceptance Speech

An old video showing Oprah's acceptance speech for the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 25th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. I really love that she has been a beacon of light for so many of us. We love you Oprah!

Nick Vujicic, No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!

An amazing story and inspirational speaker.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:

Go For Your Dreams!

I just watched this video of Kandee, the makeup artist, who shares her heart and her story about what she went through to get to where she is today. It is truly inspiring and I wanted to share it with all of you. We've all gone through some rough times, but if we follow our dreams, there will be a way to make it happen!

Hope you enjoy!

Self-Made Millionaire at Age 14

This is an amazing story about Farah Gray, a self-made millionaire at age 14. Watch his story here:

Get Honest & Be Real!

A Dream Come True for Menna Van Praag, author of Men, Money and Chocolate

Success Story: Sung-Joo Kim

It's rare to hear about a Korean woman who was listed in Wall Street Journal's top 50 women to watch, but I recently read an article about Sung-Joo Kim, founder of a company called Sungjoo Group and chairman and chief executive of MCM Group who that has done just that. Read more about Sung-Joo Kim here.

If you've heard of any other amazing success stories, please send them my way.

Success Story: Charice Pempengco

Every time I watch Charice sing, it gives me chills. She is so talented and amazing. I first saw her on an Oprah episode about talented kids. Charise was one of them, and she sang for us for the very first time. Her voice was so amazing that I was speechless after I watched her, and I'm sure everyone else was too, including Oprah. She was brought back again on another show where Celine Dion invited her to sing with her the following week.

I just found a video of her on youtube and had to share. I hope you enjoy!

Charice sings "Note to God"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Xd435coD4

Success Story: KahiliCreations

Here's another great success story about someone who created a business on Etsy and was able to make a living that they did not have to return to their day job. I love stories about people who are living their dreams, and especially when there are stories that talk about how they are making it work. Etsy has great stories they share about people in their community that are able to make a living through their handmade crafts.

Read about KahiliCreations, a jewelry business in Hawaii.

Here's a photo of her studio:
Read the story about KahiliCreations here.

Make Money From Your Blog

Have you ever wondered how much the top blogs make per month?

Here are a couple of the most lucrative personal blogs I've come across:

Dooce.com
I'm sure some of you have heard of the famous Dooce.com, which was featured on Oprah earlier this year. In the show, she mentioned that she now makes $40,000 per month. Both her husband and her can now stay at home full-time to work on this endeavor. I'm sure they've garnered more traffic after the Oprah show aired with all those curious people who wanted to know what types of things she writes about to be able to make so much money. It was the first time that I had heard of her blog, but then again, I'm not her target market (yet). Her blog is all about parenting and child-rearing.

Here's an article that was written in 2005 before her big money making days: Heather Armstrong, Bloggers on Blogging

Here's another article about her with some video interviews of her: Website Chat with Heather Armstrong, Dooce.com

StevePavlina.com
I came across this website about a year ago that is all about personal development. I'm not sure how I got there, but I remember that I was searching for something that was very unrelated to the topics that are discussed on his website. His articles were interesting, though, so I decided to stay and poke around. Some of the more interesting ones that initially made me stay were:

• How to Become an Early Riser (I was never a morning person, but aspired to become one)
• How to Discover Your Life Purpose in 20 Minutes or Less
• 10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job

After reading enough articles, I also stumbled upon articles about how to create a blog:

• How to Make Money From Your Blog
• How to Build a High-Traffic Web Site (or Blog)

I considered creating a blog a year ago, but as you can see it's taken me a year to get it up and running. According to his second article, apparently I've already broken his rule #2: Create original content.

Instead of creating all original content, I have taken a hybrid approach by creating some original content as well as linking to other sites that I have found useful. Although Steve might disagree with me, I think I'll continue to share the resources that have helped me along the way. I can't claim that I'm an expert to be writing all my own content yet, so where I can provide valuable resources, I will, even it it means people may leave my site to visit another site. Hopefully they'll come back here for more. I've definitely been known to gather a lot of resources and blast them out to my family, so I'm hopefully assembling it all here in one place will be useful for you (and to my family). It's also helpful for me to keep my resources organized so that I don't have to dig through all of my emails to find that one link that I wanted to visit again.

I have found StevePavlina.com very valuable, and I've continuted to visit and read it periodically over the past year. I was even able to attend a workshop of his as part of the I Can Do It 2008 Conference in Tampa, FL last fall. If you like his work, you can also take a look at a book that he's recently published called: Personal Development for Smart People


I haven't read it yet, but if it's anything like his website, I'm sure it has good quality content. I'm not sure what qualifies as a "smart person" though. Don't all people need personal development?

Top Earning Blogs
Here's an article written a couple of months ago that lists all the top blogs with estimated figures on how much ad revenue they generate each month: Top Earning Blogs - Make Money Online Blogging


Ok, bear with me as I fantasize here for a little bit. It would be great to make so much money blogging that I could devote all my time to everything that I'm passionate about, which will probably also include blogging, but I would also have time to read, write, design, enjoy my crafts and hobbies, exercise, do yoga, cook organic gourmet meals, volunteer, and blog all about it. It would probably be a nice way to raise a family while enjoying the perks of having income streaming in while being able to work from home. And it could happen, who knows. I'll let you know when it does. :)

The reality is that I know that it takes time to build an audience. Dooce started in 2001 to get to where she is now (it's been 7-8 years in the making). Here's her first post about carnation milk. Steve Pavlina started in 2004--you can see his first post here: First Post. Well, here's to my first post that started less than a month ago: The Start of a New Adventure. Wishing you much success if you have a blog or are considering creating one for yourself.