Masterful Mindsets

“Grow through what you go through.”

Well, spring is here! My family is home for spring break, and we are busy planting, playing, loving and working. In other words, we are enjoying life.

Although the reality is, life can be chaotic and full of hardships, disappointments, and trials. I was thinking about this recently as my youngest daughter is nearing the end of her senior year. Time has flown by, and we are about to embark on a new chapter of our lives. That’s a challenge for me because I know she will be leaving soon. But instead of choosing to stay stuck; rejecting change, and resisting the future, I went through a process that I want to share with you today. I set into motion a series of steps that have pushed me past the bittersweet pain that change often brings and on to making the most of the life I have while I work towards embracing the future that is before me.

In general, it can be easy to get stuck in the trap of...

“Sometimes life takes you in a direction you never saw yourself going but it turns out to be the best and most beautiful journey you’ve ever taken.”

I read a short story once by Longtime Sesame Street writer Emily Perl Kingsley. It was something she had written to help people understand her experience of raising a child with disabilities, as her son was born with Downs Syndrome. She explains it as someone who’s planned and planned to take a vacation to Italy, only to board the plane and land in Holland.

Imagine the surprise and disappointment you might feel when you realized you’d reached the wrong destination. All your preparation, studying the Italian language, mapping out your trip, creating your itinerary, researching your destination, were all lost. Time wasted. Now you’re somewhere you didn’t want to be. At first you might not be able to look past the disappointment of not being in Italy to see what a beautiful place Holland...

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.”   ~ Abraham Lincoln

I had a woman schedule a strategy session with me last week who told me she was feeling like a real failure because she had “already blown it” for this year. See she had decided that this was going to be the year that she got her health back, cleared out the clutter in her house and stopped saying yes to everyone’s demands of her. Yet after just a couple weeks she had found herself back in the old patters of unhealthy eating, not even starting on the house and pleasing others by overcommitting herself.  

Here’s the thing… the one resolution she hadn’t made, was a resolution to succeed at the goals she’d set for herself no matter what. Why is this important? Well quite simply because changing old habits isn’t always easy. So, without the resolve to keep working at it, keep pushing yourself to...

“Our habits shape who we become and the results we create in the world.” ~ Lewis Howes

I’ve been writing all month about resolutions and how to create resolutions that work. But when it all boils down to it, keeping your resolutions is really about creating habits in your life that serve you to your highest potential and help you create the results you want.

Think about this…

We all have good and bad habits, right? When you think of habits, you might think of those that are easy to identify – such as good habits like brushing your teeth every day or bad habits like biting your nails. But have you ever thought about the fact that behaviors such as negative self-talk, procrastination, stress eating, hitting the snooze button, and even people pleasing are also habits? Likewise, things like scheduling and planning your day, being fully present with people, keeping a positive mindset or taking intentional breaks to improve your mental and physical...

“Never let a stumble in the road be the end of your journey.” – unknown

Will you be part of the majority that gives up on your resolutions or the minority that succeeds? I want you to succeed! Which is why these last couple weeks, I’ve given you some tips to succeed at making your New Year’s Resolutions a reality this year.

But let’s face it, even though it sounds simple in theory, it can be tough because there are so many things that can trip you up and keep you from staying the course. That point is proven when you consider that statistics show less than 10% of the people who set resolutions actually keep them.

So today, I want to conquer some of the most common pitfalls that can sabotage your success and keep you from sticking with your resolutions.

1. Too Many Resolutions – Trying to make too many changes all at once is a recipe for disaster. You are more prone to get overwhelmed and give up. Pick the one transformation that is most...

“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...

“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...

“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....

“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....

“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...