Masterful Mindsets

“Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out." ~Robert Collier

Let’s face it, success does not happen overnight. Ask anyone who has been called an “overnight success” and they will tell you that they’ve spent years, working at it, day in and day out, to make it big.

So why would anyone think that they are going to make a New Year’s resolution to change and then poof – overnight, they are changed? It’s not quite that easy… and thinking that way can set you up for disappointment. (That’s actually one of the many reasons people give up on their resolutions. – More on that next week!)

But before you get discouraged, there is good news. Because although it might not be quite that easy, it can be as simple as making small efforts on a daily basis. One of the most important keys to creating change successfully in your life is taking decisive, consistent action. But it does not have to be monumental action. As a matter of fact, there is rarely one giant step that doe...

“New Year’s Day is only the beginning… never forget the power in what you do with the other 364 days of the year. In each and every one of those days, you have the opportunity to create greatness, however big or small.”  ~ Michelle Weimer

The new year has arrived and although nothing magically changed at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, there is still a sense of hope that the new year always brings with it. A chance to hit the reset button and start with a clean slate.

So if last year left you disappointed at all, whether it was disappointment because the year didn’t go as planned or disappointment in yourself because you didn’t handle the year as well as you would have liked to, this is your time to hit that reset button and start anew. Because it stinks to feel disappointment. And even worse, is the sting of regret. We might not be able to control or change everything that is occurring in our world, but we can most certainly make positive changes to our lives. And in ...

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. ~ Oprah Winfrey

November is one of my favorite months of the year! It’s fall, the holidays are getting close, and the new year is right around the corner. It also happens to be my birthday month, so for me, it’s a great time to reflect on my life and be grateful that I’ve been able to create a life worth celebrating.

I truly have so much in my life to celebrate and be thankful for... My life is filled with loving relationships and a deep sense of purpose that I get to share with others every day. I am blessed to have a life that brings me happiness and joy. But I’ve also lived through a lot of hardships, a ton of life lessons and plenty of failures. Not every day has been champagne and roses. But yet as I reflect, what I see most are the moments to celebrate. The successes from working hard to reach goals. The growth from stepping out of the comfort zone. The triumphs over the difficult times. ...

“You’ve got to wake up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” ~ George Lorimer

Last week I shared several big tips for organizing your time for maximum efficiency and I got a lot of response from subscribers and followers about them because I think it definitely hits a sensitive spot with so many people who are feeling overwhelmed and over-extended.

So, for the next few weeks I thought I’d respond to some of your inquiries by breaking down the concepts more specifically, starting with the one that I got the most inquiries about… which is how to create a positive morning routine. I’ll be addressing the following questions from readers:

What does a good morning routine look like? - Do you have to do it every morning? - If you don’t have enough time as it is, how can you add a morning routine? - What is your morning routine?

First let me say that there’s no one size fits all routine. Each individual is different so your lifestyle and your...

“The decisions you make determine the schedule you keep. The schedule you keep determines the life you live. And how you live your life determines how you spend your soul.”  ~ Lysa Terkeurst

Time management isn’t just about organizing your tasks and your time. It’s about making soulful decisions. So ask yourself: Do you have a desire burning deep inside your soul but can’t seem to find the time for it? Do you find yourself feeling overwhelmed BY life but feeling underwhelmed ABOUT life? Is how you spend your time in alignment with what’s important to you?

We all have the same 24 hours in a day yet some people seem to waste their time or fill it up with things that just really don’t matter or light their soul on fire. For some it may be because they are people pleasers. So they don’t want to say no to others and consequently, put everyone else’s needs in front of their own.

For others, they may be stalling or finding distractions as a defense mechanism because they are afraid to ...

“Your best is going to change from moment to moment, it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstances, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.”  ~ Don Miguel Ruiz

So many people put pressure on themselves to be perfect and what I find interesting about that, is the pressure of “perfect”, usually gets in the way of actually being your best. Maybe you can relate… Do you put pressure on yourself to be perfect or do you accept that your best is enough and simply make it a point to be your best true you each day?

This is where the fourth agreement, Always Do Your Best, from Don Miguel Ruiz’s book, The Four Agreements, comes in. It really could be the easiest of all the agreements and yet so many people struggle with it. But it's not because they don't want to be their best, or they aren’t capable of doing their best. But rather, it's usually a result of not believing that their best is good enough. So instead ...

“Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal.” ~ Elbert Hubbard

Often what keeps people from being highly productive is not a lack of time but instead, a lack of energy – mental and physical energy are necessary in order to be a high performer. But what about when you have that energy, you’re extremely busy marking things off a to-do list but still, you’re not really achieving success? What’s missing?

Well, if you had to clean dried up, stuck on food from a kitchen sink, would you use a strainer full of water? And if you did, how likely would it be that the gunk would come right off?

I realize this seems like a silly analogy but stay with me here…

Water in a strainer flows out everywhere and yes covers a lot of area but that tough spot that is stuck, it doesn’t budge because the water doesn’t have enough concentrated power. However, if instead of wasting that water covering...

“The truth will set you free” ~ John 8:32

As we come to the end of this series on the lies that worry tells us, it’s important to note that worry and fear are two different things. Sometimes fear creates worry and sometimes, worry can create fear. For example, the fear of the unknown can cause us to worry about the future. And worrying about the future can stoke the fire of fear, making it grow out of control and keeping us from ever stepping forward into the future we want to create.

I could go on and on about the differences between worry and fear but that's a much bigger topic, so I won’t get into that today. For now, just keep in mind that there will always be things we fear. And that’s okay. True fear isn’t always within our control, and it is sometimes necessary in order to keep us safe. But worry is within our control and it rarely, if ever serves a purpose. So, if we don’t want our fear to paralyze us and hold us back, then it is to our benefit to keep worry quiet or bett...

“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” ~ Victor Hugo

In the past few years, our world has become increasingly filled with worry and fear. However, I did not create this series solely because of the uncertainty and turmoil that has ensued since this decade began. Because the truth is, worry is always there, ready to pounce and leaving us feeling as if we can’t possibly breathe from the weight of the worry in our hearts. We may never be completely exempt from worry. But we also must remember that more times than not, worry lies. (So, if you missed any of the series thus far, feel free to click on each lie below to catch up.)

As a refresher, the three common lies worry tells us that I’ve been examining in this series are:

1. The worst is going to happen.
2. You can’t handle it.
3. This will last forever.

Moving forward, today I am continuing our series on the three big lies that worry tells us, where those lies often come from and most importantly, how to overcome t...

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows. It empties today of its strength.” ~ Corrie ten Boom

Today, I am continuing our series on the lies that worry tells us, where those lies often come from and most importantly, how to overcome them so you can have courage to step boldly into your future.

Three of the most common lies are:

1. The worst is going to happen.
2. You can’t handle it.
3. This will last forever.

If you missed part one, of this series, where I discussed Lie #1, you can CLICK HERE to read it.

Let’s take the second lie now, “You can’t handle it.” This worry feeds off of the fear that the process of doing something will be painful or too difficult in some way. It often stems from believing that we are not good enough, smart enough, capable enough, strong enough -whatever enough. That is a lie! But I'm here to tell you the truth...

Without me even knowing you – I believe you can handle it! Why, because as humans, we are resilient. We are stronger, smarter and – MO...