Finding Balance With Jack…

Well it has been about four months since Jack has come into my life. I have had to make some changes to my schedule to ensure Jack is taken care of. This brings me to the topic of balance. I have many layers to my life and work as so many others do. I have a “job,” school, self-employment in multiple businesses, self-care, and care of others within my businesses. Jack has played an important part in those changes. I need to make sure I am home to feed him, exercise him, train him, and most of all to enjoy him. Because of that I need to schedule around him. This was a personal choice for me. I love having a dog in my home for me it completes my home. What completes your home?

For me schoolwork is structured and I know when I need to accomplish tasks. I know Jack’s schedule and what I need to do. I have set schedules with some clients and others I work around my schedule. When it comes to building my businesses I have no set schedule. As an entrepreneur scheduling time is on me. Sometimes this goes well for me and other times not so much. What about you, how do you manage your time? This can be a blessing and a curse for the self-employed. Time freedom needs balance, as does life itself. I need to build my business around Jack and myself.

Right now I am looking at and assessing the common threads of all of what I do. Synergism is very important to me in all aspects of my life. I find when I have continuity I have momentum and this is a great feeling. When I do not have continuity I can get in my own way. Does this happen to you? I would love your feedback on this. I love that each part of my life has a common thread. Jack has helped me see this. I have been given lessons and continue to have lessons with Jack. I love to learn even if frustration comes through. Once I am through it I appreciate it so much more.

Balance can mean different things to each person. It is what drives us although sometimes what drives us takes us completely out of balance. Some people are laser focused, others middle of the road, and others not so much. Where do you stand on balance? A little pun on words there! As I sit here writing I am looking at my vision boards. I am noticing a common thread of simplicity. My balance is within simplicity. Gardening, meditation, music, animals, yet finding balance when adding work is where I am at right now. It is daily work to keep balance in all areas of my life. As I have been told many times and truly believe it is in the journey that we find our balance. The road may be bumpy at times but it will lead to the place of balance we all need and want.

 

Until next time…

~Lisa

Our Past Propels Us to the Present, Then to the Future…

The past propels us to the present, which then propels us into the future. Ah, the past it can be so convoluted yet just what helps us move forward to the present. Life has not always been good for me. I have had my share of struggles just as everyone else has. I choose to acknowledge my past, learn from it, and see where it takes me. I have written a little bit about my past so here it comes again. But in this light I will write about what it has given me. What has your past given you? A friend posted a blog on Facebook this morning challenging the “Everything happens for a reason” quote in a blog. Sometimes I believe that but other times I know it is me who has brought me to a particular point. Whether it was me being in fear of “what might happen if I take a chance” or struggling and losing myself in hanging on to something that will eventually go away of my own making or of things out of my control. Thank you Mom for reminding me of my past. It has me reflecting of how far I have come from this past experience.

Today I choose to acknowledge what part I played and how I thought if I just tried harder and worked harder I could fix this! I am smiling right now because there was nothing I could have done to change the outcome. The only change I could have made to change the outcome was to walk away. But I was not ready for that step. I needed the proverbial kick in the butt to move me in a new direction. What kicks in the butt have you had to move you in a new direction? It is funny in a philosophical funny kind of way of where this experience has taken me. This experience has given me the opportunity to be open in ways I had never imagined were possible. I was still fearful but had made peace with my fear and welcomed what was to come.

The people I have met in the present have been propelling me to my future. Those little miraculous steps of taking a chance brought me to these people. I have so much gratitude for this. My present is nothing like I imagined it to be. I still have struggles; who doesn’t? But today I surround myself with people who care, who have similar experiences, and can help with solutions. How is your present propelling you to your future?

The future, well it is still uncertain. This is okay because I can work towards my goals and dreams without hesitating about the future. I look forward to the future because it is always bringing me to new possibilities. I can acknowledge my fears then send them on a coffee break as my business coach tells me. What do you do to send your fears on a coffee break? How has your past, present, and future changed your life?

Until next time…

~Lisa

Preconceived Notions, Assumptions, Perceptions Oh My!

Ahh, preconceived notions, assumptions, and perceptions… The human race has so many different variations of these. These seem to pop up on a daily basis. How do you overcome these? How have come to handle these three anomalies? It can be tiring and draining. What I find that amazes me is you do not even realize it is happening and when it happens it throws a curve in that is difficult to bounce back from. But you can bounce back!

Bouncing back is self-care and forward motion. I do not need to sit in these three notions, assumptions, and perceptions in check. It goes both ways, as does anything else. Lately this has been happening to me and I need to look at my part in each situation. It is important to me to be a better person, a trustworthy person, a credible person, an ethical person, and a person who is open to hearing when I am wrong and have the ability to change for the better. I live in the mindset of self-development on a daily consistent basis. It is important me to grow mentally and spiritually. Learning something new everyday inspires me to improve and be a better person.

We need these reminders to help us stay in the moment, for me it is looking at myself but not beating myself up, but to see where I can improve. It is not always enjoyable but it does bring me back to me and to work and learn on how to improve myself. I can embrace my imperfections, acknowledge them, and move on to what I need to do for myself.

My goal is to attract positive people and influences into my life. I cannot do this if I do not move away from my misconceptions. I choose not to do the blame game. I choose to bring awareness, acceptance, and action into my life to help me move in the right direction. Wouldn’t it feel great to surround yourself with goodness? It brings my vibrations into a positive light and propels me to continue to work towards my goals and dreams.

Life takes us I so many directions and I know I can get caught up in “stuff.” What about you, how do you get “unstuck from the stuff?” I would love to hear from you and have you share what tools you use to overcome these.

Finding Your Belief in Yourself

What drives you? What makes you do what you do? The big question is. Do you believe in yourself? Because you can believe in what you do, why you do it, but if that belief is not deep inside of you all of this will not click. The reason I say this is because I had all of this except for the belief in myself. Then one day it clicked. I cannot tell you how or why it just did. I just cannot pinpoint the click; if you can understand this then you are on the same path of self-discovery.

Believing in myself opens myself up to infinite possibilities. When I am open to infinite possibilities I manifest goodness in my life. I attract goodness, I attract people to me, and it is synergistic. Has this ever happened to you? It brings you to a new high. People see it in you. There is an aura about you that cannot be explained. How amazing is that?

The key is staying in this zone of self-discovery, belief, and manifestation in my life. Here are a few of the parts of my self-work to keep me on this path:

Mediation ten minutes before going to bed. This has been so important to my mind, body, and spirit. I have set up a table with trinkets of what I love and what I want to manifest into my life. It relaxes me and puts me in a state of allowing goodness to come to me. A great way to get into meditation is once every so often Oprah and Deepak have 21-day free meditations. A few of my friends recommended this to me and it helped tremendously. One of the classes I attended started with a ten minute meditation-this was at 8 a.m. in the morning so many times it turned into a nap. Whatever works for you and helps you is different for everyone. I recommend trying different things to help you find what works. You never know until you try.

Affirmations of what inspires, motivates, and heightens your awareness’s. A good friend and business partner with a background in psychology recommended I put some type of affirmation in every room of my home. I printed “I Am” in different fonts, sizes, and colors, framed them and put them in strategic places in each room. It is subtle but effective. I even have one in my car.

I have some company recognitions that were sent to me. They are positioned in my work area. My vision boards are in the same area as well.

Now I am not saying that those negative thoughts do not try to creep in. When this happens I use visualization to push them out and bring positive thoughts in. What do you do to keep moving forward? It is so helpful to me to hear what other people do to keep shall we say in “beast mode.” It’s a beautiful thing when a career and a passion come together. Then, when that belief in yourself comes through, well all I can say is watch out world!

~Until next time

Lisa