I am a Woman of the World

My alchemy of life…

In my last blog, I talked about inclusion and how shifting our mindset to include everyone will change the world. Everyone has a gift to share and being open to others ideas, opens us up to so many possibilities. It is difficult to know what will work, and “my way or the highway” closes out possibilities and potential. The future is not about things. The future is about shifting to a consideration of all ideas, gifts and experiences.

A Ugandan Child Feeling Excluded

I learned about the power of inclusion when I was teaching challenged learners in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Noticing that these students were segregated and isolated from their peers just seemed wrong. Passion overtook traditionalism and the creation of inclusion programs became my mission. I was not always liked or accepted for doing this thing called inclusion but it was the fair and just way to integrate them in the mainstream classrooms. What a difference it made in their academic progress and social skills and the acceptance of their peers. Today, more than 60 percent of all students with disabilities spend 80 percent or more of their school day in regular classrooms, alongside their non-disabled peers. Inclusion works. 

When I rewired from teaching and chose to travel the world, I found people of all cultures, religions and other orientations including me, which made me feel welcome. Having a group of people in my hometown to share my experiences was delightful, especially the eighty and ninety-year-young women who refer to me as a “vagabond.”

Whenever I returned to Cleveland, I would spend a day or two visiting with my aunt. We went shopping, fixed issues in her apartment, and always ended the day having dinner in the dining room of the independent living facility in which she resides. The friends she tootles around with especially at dinnertime would delight in calling me a vagabond or wanderer. They truly loved hearing my travel stories and flipping through my photos. Likewise I enjoyed hearing their travel stories and seeing pictures of their families. What a treat to be in their wisdom energy of giving, taking and being included in their dinner conversation.

What will it take to close the doors of our institutions for the elderly and move them back into society where they can share their incredible wisdom? As I peel the layers of my former structure of knowing, I begin to question the structure of our institutions. The people of the Amazon don’t put their elderly away. The generations of a family live together sharing space physically, mentally, and emotionally. These aha moments are precious to me.

Balinese Tooth Filing Ceremony

I refer to myself as a “woman of the world.” By tapping into my inner child, I have continually opened doors on my journey. By traveling solo and putting myself out there, I found the universe open up to me. I was amazed at the number of women who were traveling just as I was, exploring all the world has to offer. Incidentally, now that I am rooted in an apartment, I no longer bump up against other women of the world.

Energy works in amazing ways bringing people together. A person’s energy will match another like energy allowing the two energies to come together and create amazing things. Segregating people stops the natural flow of energy and creates a one-track thought process.

Energy also spirals out into the dark night. My intention evolved into clearing my past and brought the peeling of the onion layers right into my lap. I wanted to wash my skin to cleanse my soul. These two things—travel and clearings—informed one another in the energy field. They would be my alchemy of life, opening me up to the sweet surrender of all things possible in the world. I would be like a serpent shedding its skin. I was on an expedition to discover my true self, but I did not realize it at first.

What if I had allowed my dragons to keep me small? Dragons like shame, fear, or guilt. What if I chose not to push through what was scary? What if I chose not to take my unsatisfying life to a satisfying life? This was not part of my story. I consciously live with the knowing that whenever I have the option to try something new, I take it. Magical things happen when I follow what the Universe presents.

I am an adventurer. Without much nudging and prodding, I set out on the road exploring. Carl Jung referred to the opposite natures in every human being as “masculine” and “feminine.” My fully developed, protective, masculine side had served its purpose. Like a serpent sheds its skin, I would shed this perfectionist, competitive, analytical side of me by exploring any and all ways to expose and embody my feminine side. This would be my bliss. People including me in their communities and families made all the difference in the world.

The late Ted Andrews said in his book, Animal Speak, “The bear teaches us to go in and awaken the potentials inherent, the tree serves as a reminder that we must bring what we awaken out into the world and apply it—make our marks with it.

The home I adopted after my tent at Sufi Camp in the Manzano Mountains of New Mexico

In the first month of what would turn into my four-year journey traveling the world, I woke up at Sufi Camp one morning with something rubbing up against my tent. I began pushing on the side of the tent to nudge what I thought was the free-range cow I’d seen the night before. Warm and cozy in my sleeping bag, I did not want to climb out to open the flap. The animal soon left. Later that morning, a friend who was camping across the road from me told me a bear had come close to her tent then wandered over to mine. The bear had been awakening my potential! It was in that moment that I knew my sojourn was going to be a spiritual journey.

There is a great new story occurring now. A story that is absolutely essential in changing the mindset of human beings. Everyone and everything is a mirror of the self. We are one and I am enough. There is a power in me that no one can take away. It is exemplified by the Dalai Lama in his nonviolent ways, even in the face of extreme aggression. The Dalai Lama shows us what is possible through forgiveness,  love and inclusion.

The house I left for my 350 square foot apartment

So, I have come to see that opening up to all possibilities—and there are many—gives me hope. There is more to life than an organized closet. The more I accumulate, the less I experience life. I have gone from a 2,200 square foot home to a 350 square foot apartment and I have everything I need.

I felt as though I had reached a threshold of the hero’s journey, where everything known is left behind, and I was venturing into an unknown realm where rules and limits are yet to be revealed. I was to learn many things on the journey but one of the most important was, “Everything is energy.” If everything is connected and everything is energy, when the coronavirus strikes on the other side of the world, we are affected. I believe people are seeing we are all connected and including everyone in the solution is of paramount importance.

How did we as a species get to this place in history? Why do we assume some people are better and more deserving than others? How did we come to see that what  Mother Earth offers is merely a resource for our taking? Everyone deserves to be included in the best medical care, the best schools, etc.

I know my four-year journey impacted my values and morals, all the while opening my eyes to other ways of seeing the world. My journey continues to keep me in wonderment and a space of questioning all that is. I am a woman on a mission to help everyone reach their full potential while expressing their gifts in an inclusive society.

When audience members are in attendance for one of my talks, I always promise them a complementary copy of my award winning ebook, Step Up Step Out, Share Your Gifts and Be an Agent for Change. Help yourself to your copy!

Be The Leader

You Were Meant to Be

What is your definition of a leader? Is it someone who leads in our political system or maybe a top level CEO? Could a leader be a person who founded and grew a successful non-profit helping thousands of people become self-sustaining? What about Nelson Mandela who led the movement to free the people of South Africa, or Ruth Bader Ginsburg who became the first United States female Supreme Court Justice? And what about you?

What if you are a leader behind the skin you are hiding in? Are you ready to shed that skin? Now is the time! You have leadership skills in you and you don’t need to lead an entire country or start a huge business to be a leader. Leaders are individuals who inspire others to be the best version of themselves and make a difference for our planet.

Quality rather than quantity is key. So it boils down to what is the best version of yourself? Thinking about this question can help you explore the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual best version of yourself.

 

So let’s dive deeper in to each of these aspects.

I. Mental: You have a brain…AND you are not your brain. You are more than that. The good news is that neuroscientists have found when one part of your brain ceases to function at its peak, another part will compensate. This requires you to have persistence, vision and repetition.  Here is a link to research results done at Columbia University in New York showing brain compensation.

a. Persistence: A leader never, never, never gives up. The stone age part of your brain is designed to keep you safe. In fact, approximately 80% of what you listen to in your chatter is negative. Just as you are ready to have a breakthrough, the amygdala goes to work doing its job to keep you safe. Listening to this part of the brain will cause you to stop as you tell yourself stories why your idea won’t work and believing it is true.

b. Vision: Vision includes clarity of what you would love your life look like. Clarity requires you to be in alignment with who you truly are. What is your purpose? What are your values? What are your life intentions? What is your vision? Very few people can determine the above four things on their own so I would like to invite you to seek a program or coach who will help you rock and roll with clarity.

c. Repetition: Leaders practice, practice, practice. Even the most gifted athletes practice always. Find a supportive person or group to beef up your practice schedule.

 

II. Physical: Are you honoring the amazing body carrying you through the Third Dimension? The following are a few suggestions to consider. I am not a medical professional but I have a strong passion for health.

a. Are you eating well? (Below is the minimum)

  1. 5-6 servings minimum of fruits and vegetables daily.
  2. Approximately 50g of protein depending on your body weight, muscle, age, activity level, etc.
  3. Healthy fats.
  4. Moderating your alcohol and sweets intake.

You may be interested a blog about changing eating patterns written by my friend Cynthia Stadd.

b. Leaders exercise in one of the following ways….

  1. 3 days a week for a minimum of 60 minutes?
  2. 6-7 days a week for a minimum of 30 minutes?

c. Are you sleeping well?

  1. 8-9 hours per night.
  2. Turning off technology 1-2 hours before bedtime.
  3. Leave your phone outside your bedroom when sleeping.
  4. Use an eye mask to take you into the deeper sleep states.
  5. Reduce alcohol and caffeine and use it earlier in the day rather than before bed.

d. Leaders know they are the master of their health. Are you attending regular doctor visits and following the recommendations that work for your body?

 

III.  Emotional:  Leaders know that what you focus on becomes your reality. The same is true for what comes out of your mouth.

a.  Smile at others. Be amazed when they smile back.

b. Show compassion for other people’s Hero’s Journey as Joseph Campbell identified. We are all on this amazing journey to be the best version of ourselves. We have no idea of the learning another person is seeking through the way they are being and what they say.

c. Meditate. Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada found that meditating for just 10 minutes a day is enough to see significant results. As long as it’s done consistently, sitting still and breathing deeply for just 10 minutes can help you concentrate better throughout the day. If you have the wherewithal to meditate 20 minutes, this will make a huge impact on your overall wellness.

d. Hobby or Passion. Dive into what makes you happy.

e. Serve others with your gift.

f. Give to others in need. It is in giving that we receive and that’s not why you want to give. Give with an open heart.

g. Lean-In. Shying away from fear begets more fear.

h. Monitor the time you are reading, watching or listening to the news. Maybe CNN is an acronym for Constant Negative News. Negative news creates more negative stories and fear in our life. Read, watch and listen to only enough to stay informed.

 

IV. Spiritual: It doesn’t matter what your belief system is. What matters is that you are honoring those beliefs without judging others for theirs.

a. Gratitude: Gratitude is one of the most helpful practices we can include in our daily routine. Do you keep a gratitude journal where you write down 3-5 things that you are grateful for each morning or evening? Do it once a day. Do you become present throughout your day for 30-40 seconds when you notice you are enjoying, liking or amazed by what is occurring? Try it and rewire your brain from fear and anxiety to gratitude.

b. Get out in Mother Nature several times a week at the very minimum. Walk around a lake, on a path, in the woods, etc. We are connected to Mother Earth and all living beings. Nature can have a direct impact on your well-being. If you’ve ever felt stressed, go out into nature and notice the calming effect it has on you. No kidding!

c.  Breathe deep into your belly. It will relieve stress from anxiety, overwork and fear. I once learned to breathe into my belly by laying on my stomach and breathing until my body rose up from my belly. Try it. It works.

 

Many successful leaders wants to live a long life contributing their gifts by serving others. When you don’t do the self care that your human experience needs, you may be successful and over time, your body will begin to show you it has been neglected. You are an amazing human being with gifts to share and leadership qualities to express. Move forward and express what is yours to express without any regrets.

 

Remember it’s about quality rather than quantity. If you are ready to step out as the leader you know yourself to be, identify a self-care regimen and follow it. You don’t have to be a Nelson Mandela or a Ruth Bader Ginsberg to be a leader. Just be your brilliant self and share your gifts!

If you are interesting in joining our virtual Complementary Tuesday Resilience Circle, click this link or sign up with the link below. Play with us as you begin to identify your gifts, your life vision and gain more confidence.

>> Sign up to get the email link: https://www.stepupstepout.com/contact/ <<

 

3 Mindset Shifts to Inclusion

How to Create an Inclusive World

What would it be like if you lived in a world where everyone felt included and no one was left out? What if you could include everyone to the extent that they felt valued and thus were willing to share their gifts?

Inclusion of all – no matter race or gender

What is inclusion you may be asking? Inclusion is the action of including all individuals within a group or structure. It is diverse in including everyone whether around race, ethnicity, age, ability, language, nationality, socioeconomic status, gender, religion or sexual orientation.

I imagine you are wondering why I am bringing up inclusion on this mindset blog. I was wondering the same thing until I realized diversity and inclusion are all about mindset.

Have you ever had experiences where you were not included? Do you have internal conversations like: “I don’t matter” or “I have nothing to bring to the table in this conversation.” Does saying what you are thinking open you up to being criticized? Is your mindset worried that the criticism is true? If the story is true, then you would be a fraud and everyone would know the “truth”…“You are not as smart as you pretend to be.” And on and on and on. So instead, you keep quiet and don’t contribute to the conversation. 

Have you ever been in a business or social situation where you didn’t contribute your ideas due to limiting conversations? Yes, we’ve all been in this spot and for some of you, it’s a familiar spot to be in. So much in your world is lost to judgement and not feeling valuable. Consider that there is an entire population in our culture who do not feel valued…those with physical and mental challenges. And yet, they are incredibly gifted individuals. It’s not how smart are you. It’s what are you smart in. With this mindset, everyone can feel included. 

I remember in school when education shifted to group work as opposed to the teacher talking in the front of the room. I found myself sitting back in the group, sometimes even moving my chair out of the circle. I was working really hard to not be noticed and to not open my mouth for fear of criticism. It took a lot of energy to remain invisible. Then my limiting conversations would really get loud. “I can’t do this.” “No-one is going to care what I have to say.” “I’m not smart enough.” And on and on and on. Can you relate?

Everyone deserves to be at the table!

Today, awareness of limiters, allows a conscious shift to strengths and possibilities. What you focus on, you experience more of. That’s just the way it works. Focusing on your contribution and your special view of the world is what matters most? Inclusion in business and life means focusing on what each member of a group brings to the table.

When you experience the big picture of including everyone, you get curious about what other people could bring ‘to the table.’ This expansiveness benefits all people and all projects. It’s not easy to gain this mindset but it will be worth it. 

Inclusion for everyone is like an open book with all the pages on the left filled up and the pages on the right empty. We get to choose how the pages on the right are filled. Be the person who makes the choice to pen your book with a vision of inclusion going forward.

Why would you want to include everyone in your vision, you may be asking? “You worked hard to get to where you are today and look at those people who just abuse drugs. They are making their own bed and you made choices that gave you your bed. You like your bed.” Why should you share your experience after all the hard work?

Would it be all right with you to see that you mirror everything in your life? This deep concept, seeing that you mirror the person who is addicted to drugs or the person who is homeless is a game changer. Ask yourself, “Where in my life am I expressing addiction?” If it isn’t drugs, could it be sugar, television, your phone, gambling, partying…or is it the myriad of other addictions that you as a human being can be expressing? Only when you honestly look in the mirror of your own life, can you begin to have compassion for people on the edge of society and include them.

Temple Grandin found ways to be included and share her gifts.

Your brain is wired to chatter all sorts of negative thoughts with most of these thoughts being unconscious. It is believed that this “negativity bias” is in your DNA and developed during the stone age period. So the truth is your negative chatter is not going away. You will question inclusion principles always. The mission for everyone is to uncover those thoughts, and you have plenty of them in the area of inclusion. 

If you are willing to look at energy for just a moment, you can begin to see what the human experience is all about. Everything is energy. That is a known fact. The trees that are growing upward and the thoughts that you think. It’s all energy. When you look at combustion energy, air and gases are compressed to create ignition. You can ignite your dreams by fueling them with passion like the heat that is needed to change invisible air into steam. Your thoughts are like that. Fueling your thoughts with the heat of passion can cause a thought to occur in real life. 

Include Everyone

You so often get stuck around diversity and fairness. You think  there’s nothing you can do. So ask  yourself, “What baby step can I  take right here, right now?” Then  take it. Think successfully, talk  successfully, and act successfully. 

 

Know that everything is energy: thoughts, words and actions. Inclusive thoughts, words and actions have the power to make a world that works for everyone. Be the gatekeeper of your thoughts, words and actions. Notice what you’re noticing you are listening to in your ‘chatter box.’ Notice what you’re noticing when you open your mouth and speak. Notice your actions. They are all connected and creating the world you are living. 

Not to go down a rabbit hole with mirroring, energy and negativity bias concepts but the knowing that you create your experience with your thoughts, words and actions. What would you like to see in relation to inclusion and diversity of all human life? Passion inspires and fuels the mind like a combustion engine. The experience of inclusion success can rock your world and the world of so many other people. 

In bringing this blog to landing, I’d like to clarify that inclusion expresses respect and appreciation for all members of society as they are valuable assets to any community. Inclusion expresses and opens the door for everyone to participate in their community settings and be listened to. Their contribution is part of the whole and is a necessary piece to a healed world.  

How to Be an Intuitive Leader

Change Your Thoughts

Are you a leader who spends time on personal growth?
This growing field is so important to leadership and evolution of the human species. Knowing that you have the ability to change your mind’s DNA is a game changer. There are many levels to being able to alter your DNA. The first step to this is recognizing the influence your thoughts have on your life.

I’d like to invite you to make a list of all the thoughts you experience in the next 3 minutes. Go ahead do it, just 3 minutes.
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Great! How did you do? Did you have 3, 5, or 25 thoughts? Congratulations on giving this your best shot.

Neuroscience has found that you and I have 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts a day, and upwards of 90% of your thoughts are in your subconscious. You don’t even realize you are having them. You are being hijacked by these thoughts over and over and are unaware of it.

Village children and mom’s come to see Muzungu’s

This article is not about how to uncover these subconscious thoughts. Know that you can peel the layers off these subconscious thoughts like peeling an onion. One approach is with the model of coaching I use, created over 45 years ago. You can ‘get at’ what is driving your actions and reactions each day. This article is about changing your thoughts through repetition and thus changing your DNA, giving you more experiences that you choose.  

As the subconscious mind shapes the brain, it changes the DNA. In our culture, we have long felt it’s in our genes. “It’s just the way it is. There’s nothing I can do about it if it’s in my DNA.” Neuroscience has proven that you can reform your DNA through the thoughts that you have.

So you can actually improve it when you notice all the forms of energy you emit. Your thoughts, your words, your feelings and your actions are energy. They express your belief system and create your life. If everything is energy, then your thoughts and emotions permeate the Universe. Your thoughts can be positive or negative all the while changing your brain through neural-plasticity, thus changing your DNA.

You can change your brain through repetition, in other words through repeated positive mental activity. You are creating your life each and every moment of the day. So it is important to notice what you are noticing.

  • Are your thoughts expansive, seeing the possibilities?
    OR
  • Are your thoughts contractive, formulated with condition based thinking?

What if the conditions that exist do not have to control the outcome and instead, a passionate vision controls the outcome? See my last blog post from March 2020 about how one person’s passionate vision helped to bring about the Empire State Building during the height of The Great Depression. You can be more interested in your passionate vision than in the stories held in your DNA. You cannot change your past but you can change your DNA going forward. 

You’ll begin to notice this information is popping up in all sorts of places in your life. Neuroscientists are studying the brain differently today through MRI machines. People have been talking about this for years and now the data is available.

In the 1800s, the transcendental movement was developed as a reaction to all that was happening with the Civil War and slavery. These Transcendentalists did not want to talk about what was wrong. They wanted to talk about the possibilities. This brought together a group of some of the great brains of that period such as Emerson, Thoreau and Alcott. They got together in Concord, Massachusetts and started the transcendental movement. The purpose of this movement was to use thoughts to shift the DNA, to shift the negative experiences in the world.

North Bali Sea

Realizing the potential of this information opens up the possibilities and makes people aware that life is a creation. Staying stuck in the programming and paradigms in your life is a choice. You can use thoughts to move out of a negative mindsets and into an expansive view of what’s possible. Staying in an expansive view and repeating this view reforms your DNA, changes your thought patterns and forms new thought patterns that will lead you in the direction of the life you want to live.

What steps can we take to reform our DNA expansively? Do something every single day that scares you and you have not done before.

  • It doesn’t have to be big. It could be walking up to someone who was kind to another person and acknowledge them for it.
  • Or something like when you are sitting with a group of people listening to a speaker, and the speaker asks, “Are there any questions?” Many people have questions and are afraid to ask them. Sometimes for me, I’ll sit in an audience, have a question and not be willing to step up and ask because it’s scary. What if people think that’s a stupid question? What if people know that the question was already answered when the speaker spoke, and I wasn’t listening? What if I’m putting myself center stage in an audience with all these people and what are they going to think of me? Are they going to judge my hair? What do they think of my clothes?

All of us worry about many things. Go ahead and be willing to step up and do the thing that you’re most afraid of. I guarantee if there’s a group of 50 people, 25 of them have that exact same question. There is a group mind that actually brings those questions about and you can be the person that is willing to take the chance to step up, step out and ask the question.

Fetching water and curious about Muzungu’s

Being more interested in the leadership can change DNA and change your mindset.

  • Go ahead and make a decision.
  • Say, “I am doing this thing.”
  • Then take action and do it. Move the focus of control to the center of your being.

Repeating successes builds neural pathways in your brain to have more success. Write successes down and then repeat them. Avoid failure by not focusing on it. It is inevitable that you will notice failure. When you do, shift your focus back to the success stories rather than focusing on the failure which builds neural pathways of failure. You want to build neural pathways to success by catching yourself having success. Give yourself a brain boost. It’s the neuroscience of the win-win and moving forward with your life. Repeat your successes.

If you can dream it, you can be it, do it and have it. Not only watch for opportunities to come up, watch for what you’re longing for, what you’re dreaming of. If you see it in your mind’s eye, you can be it, do it, have it. You have so many possibilities for your life. Playing small does not benefit anyone. Your leadership will make a difference as you stay focused on expansion and shift from negative or contractive thoughts that hijack your leadership. Do something you have never done before and “shift from saying I can’t, to saying, I can!”

How will you use your mind to change your experience? How will you use your thoughts to alter your DNA? You have the option to build the life you desire and to build the vision you know you dream of. This is your human right. Use your mind to shape your experience though your thoughts, feelings, words, and actions.

Why Blueprint Your Leadership Vision

How Designing Your Leadership Life is a Game Changer

Do you create your day as you first awaken or do you progress with your day and leave everything to chance. Are you creating a life by design or by default? With every breath you take, it is leadership by design that is vision-driven or leadership that is condition-driven. Every day, you create your life and you have the opportunity to create the life you desire.

I want to tell you a wonderful story told by my friend, Jean Houston. ‘A man was walking in a botanical garden and glanced down at a cactus plant. He hears a little voice, “Mister, mister, I’m a princess trapped in a frog’s body. All you have to do is kiss me and I will turn into my princess self, and will give you any pleasure you desire.” The man bends down and puts his hand out and the frog jumps on his hand. He brings the frog up to his mouth, and then he puts the frog in his pocket. He hears this muffle, “Mister, mister, you don’t understand. I’m a princess trapped in a frog’s body. All you have to do is kiss me, and I’ll turn into my princess self and give you any pleasure you desire.” He holds the frog up close to his mouth again and says, “At my age, actually, I would rather have a talking frog.”

What I love about this story is that most people think they should want what others have. Do you believe that if your society or your family think you should be living a certain way, you need to do it? Here’s the deal, you get to decide for your life. You get to decide what matters to you.

Let me tell you a little about my life. As a young child, I was a follower. I was afraid to do something different for the fear people would question what I was doing or question who I was. I was afraid they would look at me as if to say, ‘You’re really an odd bird.’ Now I can see this fear was keeping me small. I was being a follower trying to do everything that everybody else did so that I would fit in. I realized that fitting in isn’t the name of the game. Deciding for my life is the name of the game.

Today, I’m not much of a follower. As you probably have figured out, I’m not very good at following rules either. For me, it’s about tuning into what’s unique about me and honoring what’s important. This is key. It’s not about following. So much of our society is based on wanting what other people want…keeping up with the Jones’.

Be willing to just make a decision and go with it. There’s no magical money machine. You must decide for your dreams and follow proven systems of success in the way others have experienced success. It’s really important to try to get as clear as you can about what you want, not just because someone else says they want it for you, but what you truly want to design for your life. In my up and coming book, Step Up Step Out, Action Steps Leaders Use in Times of Change, I delve into these proven systems of success.

In 1929, William Lamb had a vision to build the Empire State Building. At the height of the depression, they built it in 18 months. It did not depend on the conditions of the world when it started. It depended on their will to do it. Lamb had the vision and conditions were not going to stop them. William Lamb drove the project. The Depression wasn’t going to stop the building of the Empire State Building. He could see it in his mind’s eye and he drew up the plans. If you can see it in your life, you can be it, do it, have it. Draw up your Life Blueprint that is in your mind’s eye.

What in your life has been put on hold due to your current conditions? Might there be the will and wherewithal for you to move that vision forward? What step can you take at this moment that will move you closer to this dream? Now is the time! Take the step and watch what happens for you.

It’s about making a decision. A thermometer reads the temperature of a room. A thermostat sets that temperature. Your vision is your thermostat. Your thought processes are your thermometer.  Suspend disbelief, pay close attention to your thermostat and remember, there is only one thing you can change and that is your thoughts. That is the Law of Thinking.

Here’s the deal…there really is enough for all of us on this planet. When you see there really is enough for everyone, the question becomes why do some people not have ‘enough?’ What is going on is a distribution problem and a thought problem. Some people don’t see that they’re able to have what other people have because of limiting conversations. Likewise, there’s a Law of Receiving. You can receive anything you absolutely have your heart set on. You can bring that into your life. Draw your blueprint, infuse it with passion and finally take action on it.

You can’t stop thinking, even though you might want to try to stop thinking. You can regulate what quality goes into those thoughts. You’ll discover there’s a scientific way of thinking. What are you thinking? There are ways of thinking that are contractive. Guilt and resentment are contractive thoughts. Is there something in your life that is creating guilt, resentment, or anger? Have you addressed those thoughts that contract you? If there’s guilt and resentment, I highly recommend addressing it because it could be the piece that is holding you back. It could be stopping you from receiving the riches of your life.

Much of our culture looks at sacrifice as, “I’ve got to give this up,” but it might mean that you can gain something. You can give up something of a lower nature, something that no longer serves you and open up the energy for something greater to come into your life. Something of a higher nature.

I’d like you to make a complete list of everything that you’re spending your time and energy on, and notice everything you are doing in your life. Is it moving you in the direction of the vision you see for your life? If it isn’t, let it go. Let that piece in your life just flow out gently. It’s no longer needed.

We’re all born with mental faculties: imagination, intuition, memory, perception and reason. These mental faculties become contractive when your thoughts override them. When you see that what’s contained in yourself is the capacity for endless success you can examine it and create the image in your mind that you see. That is your vision (your Blueprint). Explore what you’re really capable of.

Take time today to ask yourself, “What would I love to create today, next week, next year, in three years?” Write it down and look back throughout your day or throughout your week to see if you are creating what you desire. In doing this, you are impressing your creation on the realm of all possibilities. It’s all about clarity of intention.

Summit the Fear That Holds You Back

Climbing the Rocky Mountains and looking over the edge at 11,200 feet on Arapaho Ridge is fear. When fear is present, noticing that it is there is the first step. It’s not about analyzing it, pushing it away or pretending it’s not there. Every human being experiences fear for various reasons. It’s part of the human experience and when you’re up to big things, it can be more intense. What works is to shift your focus to what is more important…your values and the vision for your life. At the moment I looked over the edge at 11,200 feet, I shifted to my value of clever so I did not get too close to the edge. What are your values? If you want to find out more, sign up for a complementary session with me.

When you see failure as totally not working and maybe say, “I’m not worth it,” you can try pushing it out the door or try to make it go away but what works is shifting it. What if you could shift this fear and just really, really move toward your dream, because fear is contractive and it’s going to hold you back. The truth fear is not going to go away. It’s your monkey mind swinging from doubt to worry and back to doubt again. When you’re stepping into your bigger vision in physical reality, and going for that dream, you’ll hear monkey mind get louder.

The secret to shifting your monkey mind is to work with a blueprint. Blueprinting your life is powerful. It’s like when you build a house, you blueprint the house. You can build your life the same way. It opens up the energy for the right doors to open.

So how do you work a blueprint for your life once it is complete? You read your vision daily and get excited about your new life. Then your vision becomes more interesting to you than the fear you are experiencing. Notice that it’s there and then shift to what’s more interesting to you. Take action toward one of three goals that you set goals for yourself from the blueprint? I highly recommend identifying three next steps in relation to your vision, then take action. Your goals and your excitement about the vision will move you forward toward your dream? You may know, goals do not have to be huge goals, just realistic goals.

Furthermore, every morning when you wake up write in your gratitude journal. It opens up expansive energy in your life. Then identify one thing that you are going to do today that will move you toward your vision. Say “If I don’t get anything else done today, I will do this one thing,” and then do it. Take action knowing it does not have to be huge. Just taking a small  step will open up the energy for you to move towards the vision.

Do you often get stuck and think that there’s nothing you can do about it? Maybe you set a goal and did not take action or you are no longer inspired about your vision. Remind yourself, that being stuck is a normal human experience. Just ask yourself, “What baby step can I take right here, right now, and then take it. Identify something that you can do in five minutes and then do it. This will get you out of the experience of ‘stuck’ and help you to see other possibilities for your life.

As you look at all these wonderful laws of success, know that you have to think successfully, talk successfully and act successfully. Know that talking successfully is the power. Words are power. Words are energy. Notice what you’re noticing and how you’re talking about what’s occurring in your life. “This really sucks” will take you down the rabbit hole of contraction.

Here is a thought, “Half of all failures in life are the result of ‘pulling up on your horse’.” What I mean is if you’ve ever ridden a horse, you know when you want the horse to do something you need to pull gently on the reins. Pulling hard causes the horse to get confused. It may even stop or turn around. You have to let the head of the horse down after a gentle nudge. It’s the same thing in life. Push and pull energy will not get you to where you want to go.

Are your failures in life because you pull up at the reins just as you’re  making progress? When you see that you’ve had a failure or you are labeling it a failure, and you are saying “Wow, I just have to give up on this one,” I say don’t. Like Winston Churchill said, “Never, Never, Never Give Up.” At the moment you want to give up, take a deep breath and hang in there. It’s the moment that the energy is going to open up for you. The energy is going to move forward and you’re going to make the leap. But, you’ve got to be noticing what’s going on for you. You’ve got to be noticing what’s happening. “Hang in there.”Take a small sweet step when you notice that you’re pulling up on the reins.

What can you do to move forward? What one small sweet step. Here’s the deal, the difference between someone who succeeds and someone who fails is the person who succeeds thinks they can do it, and the person that fails thinks that they can’t. It’s as simple as that. It’s all about your thoughts. Thoughts are the only thing you can change. You get to choose your attitude about life? What’s your attitude about the blueprint the you’ve created? Is this blueprint what you would love?

I highly recommend creating a solid state written vision for the life you would love. Blueprint your life. Know that life’s on your side. Everything you need is available to you. There is only a lack of creativity. If you can see it, you can be it, do it, have it. Lean into success. Don’t hold back. Have the desire to succeed and have an “I can” attitude. Make a clear mental picture in the form of a vision. What does your blueprint look like?

On a final note, work your vision because if you are not vision focused, condition focus will take over and pop up as monkey mind. It’s going to pop up as a story or as a limiting belief. If you have created a blueprint  then the moment you notice limiting conversations occurring, you can shift to your mental picture, and decide for your life. It is a decision you get to make.

Furthermore, make a list of everything you are doing in your life. Then determine what is not working for you. You will begin to notice how much time is spent on things that are not moving you towards your vision. S

So now, I highly recommend that you continue staying in this work. It works if you work it. It works if you continue to study the material and to study what’s possible for your life. A reminder at any moment of  what’s possible and how the laws of the universe work makes a huge difference. So, well done if you have chosen a mentor or a coach.

What I began to realize at 11,200 feet is that I was more than that. I had climbed this mountain and took in the scenery. My vision to stay healthy by staying active was shifting my fear. What is your vision for your life?  Go ahead, blueprint it!

My gift to you, a complementary session! Sign up at this link to schedule your free session with me.

Unexamined Assumptions

Are you viewing all the possibilities?

Have you ever felt a strong desire to infuse real meaning into your life? The wherewithal to make this happen is within your reach. At this time in history, we are all needed to make a difference through sharing our personal gifts. Leaving this world without expressing who you really are is truly a loss to humanity. We all can make an impact through knowing our purpose in life and the gifts we bring to the world.

There are many ways to identify our gifts beginning with knowing ourselves, our beliefs, our passions, and our unexamined assumptions. Let’s explore this last one by trying on a different perspective of how we might live in this world and how the way we are currently showing up may be impacting our fellow human beings. I asked this very question of myself several years ago and became shocked at what surfaced in regards to my belief system, and the way the unintended outcomes of the decisions I made affected each and every moment of the day.

An unexamined assumption is a fact taken for granted that drives a belief and creates an opening for consequences to show up. One example of this could be the thought pattern, “If I want something, I must need it. If I want it and need it, somehow I am entitled to have it. I have worked hard and belong to a class of people who have access to these things. Plus, things will make me happy.” Are you tethered to a life where you have convinced yourself that happiness does not exist in the manner our culture created?

Ask yourself this question: “Where are my unintended outcomes showing up?” Most often they appear in the lives of the marginalized in our society and in developing countries.

We live in a world of speed and immediacy for wanting it “now” without thinking about our impact on our fellow brothers and sisters. Our greed and disconnect from other people and life forms continues to plunder Mother Earth and leave marginalized human beings thirsting to share in the so-called “good life.” Personally, I no longer want to live blindly and would like to question my every decision about the way I am living.

Your beliefs can be limiting conversations or paradigms that may or may not be unconscious. We all have limiting conversations that keep us small. Noticing what you are listening to throughout your day is the first step in awareness. Second step is shifting a limiting conversation to a more powerful conversation such as what you may be more interested in. Are you more interested in connecting with your fellow human beings or in connecting with stuff?

Do you want to uncover the stories and paradigms that are revolving in your monkey mind? If so, find the link at the end of this article and schedule your complementary strategy session.

I would like to invite you to play with the following unexamined assumptions and to identify some of your own. Get to know your beliefs and who you are being in the world at this time of exponential change.

 

Just the Beginning of Some Unexamined Assumptions

1. My comfort is more important than the suffering of others.

2. I have compassion for others who don’t have what I have and there isn’t anything I can do about it.

3. The way I am living has nothing to do with the torrential rains and drought that my fellow human beings are dealing with in their area.

4. Climate change does not exist. I don’t need to concern myself with this. I have my own challenges to handle.

5. Scientists will find a solution to the problems that exist. They always do.

6. The natural world, the Earth, exists to satisfy the needs and desires of human beings.

7. More is better.

8. Progress is growth and growth is progress. A healthy society depends on a growing economy. It is our job to consume to generate that growth.

9. We own the land we live on.

10. I have worked hard and I deserve to have the luxuries of life because I have earned them.

11. We deserve cheap gasoline so we can keep prices low and continue to live how we have been living for decades.

12. Having many children is good. We have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. I will turn a blinds eye to the effect of having 9 billion people on the planet by 2050. After all, I won’t be alive then anyway.

13. My children will have more material things and a bigger life than I had.

14. One little individual can’t make a difference.

15. I can throw things away. Where is away?

16. It is okay to buy a lot of items as long as I recycle them. I will turn a blind eye to the cost of recycling and the use of precious fuel to do so.

17. I won’t recycle this bottle because I don’t know what bin it goes in and I don’t want to look ignorant while I figure it out. Also, my time is too valuable for this minutia.

18. I want a new newspaper. It is yucky reading one that belonged to someone else. What if they had dirty hands when they read it?

19. I don’t have time to learn about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that swirls for hundreds of miles across the North Pacific Ocean. I throw my garbage away in the proper container bins. It never blows or lands in rivers or streams floating into the ocean to be caught in the floating junk yard created by humans.

20. I deserve to retain my family traditions of buying presents rather than focusing on deeply connecting with my loved ones on holidays. I would rather it be about presents than people.

21. It is tacky to wrap a gift in newspaper comics or to reuse wrapping paper.

22.  It is okay to throw away young people (in detention homes) for a mistake they made even though it is the same mistake my child made and got away with when they were younger.

23. Are you feeling alone wanting more support to bring your mission forward?

24. Are you wanting clarity about why you are experiencing stickiness?

25. Are you pulled to express your gifts and make a difference?

 

If you would like to explore creating a life you would love, or writing your 2020 vision, contact me, schedule a complimentary 20 minute phone call with me, Carolyn Rose Hart!

Blueprinting Your Life

2020 Vision: How to Write and Live an Expansive Life

The Why

Are you a doubting Thomas? If you’re a doubting Thomas, know that you actually create your life so you get to create the life that you want. Will it be a life based on the conditions that you have or is it a life based on what you would love? You get to choose.

So if you’re not writing about your vision at this point, just dance around the house saying what you would love. Say I am so happy and grateful now that I am…., and just state what you’re doing in three years. Do this dance every single day for 21 days. Now write this vision for all areas of your life; health, career and relationships. At the end of your vision say, “This or something better still.” When you get clear about your life and you get clear about how the principle laws of success actually work, doors are going to open for you.

If you’re not taking action, then you’re going to get what you’ve always gotten. So do take action. When you’re clear and you are working your vision on the frequency that you see for your life in three years. Doors are going to open. We use three years to calm the paradigms and stories that come up when you go big. That’s the science of living a vision-driven life. As a door opens, you collapse time and your vision will occur in less than three years. You’ve got to get started. It’s what it’s all about. Absolutely what it’s all about.

I want to tell you a story about the Center for Attitudinal Healing which was started by Gerry Jampolsky and friends. They opened the healing center in Tiburon, California. Although it’s no longer in existence, it was a 20-year experiment. Gerry was a psychiatrist who began to read A Course in Miracles. He began to realize how things are created and he decided to create the healing center for kids who were catastrophically ill. Youth who had a terminal diagnosis could come and spend time learning to shape their thinking while going through a very difficult time.

Their definition of health was peace of mind. They reshaped the idea of how a child could be healthy and how their family could be healthy even though the child’s body was going through this catastrophic illness. The studies they did proved that almost all the kids, 98% of them landed outside the statistics for longevity in their particular disease. Their immune systems were stronger. They lived longer and they had a much higher quality of life while they were alive. There was an amazing shift that occurred when they saw that their body was their temple and they were more than their catastrophic illness. They began to create a life they wanted.

The Center for Attitudinal Healing was an exploration into how you can shape your thinking and align with well-being. By being at peace with what is in your life, you can shape thinking. Identify what you would love and be open to the universe showing you what you’re not seeing. Through this openness, you can actually move in the direction of what you would love.

When you’re not being your vision, it might be that the human experience of a negativity bias is coming up. No kidding. It’s going to come up and you don’t have to be the story you tell yourself or your negativity bias. Although neuroscientists know we have a Negativity Bias in our DNA, you can shift it. You can be who you want to be. It’s all about quality of life. It’s about being the best version of yourself that you can be. It’s about being in alignment with your vision.

The How

So moving on, you absolutely can take your health vision to the next level by saying, “I am the woman who is exercising. I’m getting on the floor and I’m doing stretching for 10 minutes a day and I’m taking a walk around the block. Once a week I go to the park and hike or walk and I am going to do that for 30 minutes.

If you blame yourself for anything that you are not doing such as walking or exercising, this contractive energy will interfere with your access to a higher frequency. You want to keep your frequency at a positive level that is not denying reality. Simply notice what you’re noticing, acknowledge that you are not doing what you said you would do and then take action. Take a step in the direction you see in your life, join a YMCA, or, or, or and be the best version of yourself going forward. Do this every time you notice you are not doing what you said you would do.

Write out your action steps. They don’t have to be huge steps. Just write them out and begin taking action.

Staying on a higher frequency allows your vision to happen. Not everything is going to be as you label good. Staying on a higher frequency will not always be easy and you can do it with ease. Try saying, “This is how it looks while it is all coming together.” or “This is my life and I am the man/woman who is doing this thing.”

The When

When I was headed to Southeast Asia, I had a flight to San Francisco where I was to connect with my overnight international flight. Due to storms and lightening in the Colorado region, my plane sat on the tarmac in Denver for four hours. When lightning stopped, the pilot would say, “I think we’re going to be able to take off. We’re in line now. No, we’re not taking off. They closed the rack again. Yes, they’ve opened the rack. We are tenth in line. No, they’ve closed the rack.”

For four hours, we sat on the tarmac while the lightning played its games. I could have been in angst. I could have been like, “Oh my gosh. This is just so horrible. I’m never going to get to Southeast Asia and will miss my first speaking presentation.”

Instead, I stayed in a state of possibility. The first thing I did while sitting on the tarmac was got on the phone and rescheduled my flight. I missed that flight as well by one hour.

When we finally arrived in San Francisco, I went to the United customer service counter. After rescheduling me a second time, they handed me a bottle of water, two blankets, a power bar, a toothbrush and toothpaste. Then I knew this was my new normal for the trip. I was stuck in an airport which has never happened before. So I found my own little corner and off I went to sleep with everything wrapped around my arms. In the morning, I caught my flight to South East Asia. As I stayed in the possibility of “What if?” I arrived in plenty of time to recoup before stepping on stage and remained in an expansive frequency.

I always wondered what’s going on with people who are stranded in an airport because it had never happened to me. Now I know and do not sit in judgment of others. I sit in curiosity as to what their story is and what occurred for them. I find it’s an emotionally satisfying way to live, to not judge other people for what’s occurring in their life. Holy cow, it’s phenomenal how staying in an expansive energy is a fantastic way to live. You can climb Mount Everest one step at a time.

It’s a process. You keep doing the shifting from judgement to your vision. If you notice you haven’t had success with living this way, know that it is a process. It’s about repetition and shifting to the vision you have for your life. Before you know it, you’re going to get a different experience.

The What

You must WRITE your vision out on a piece of paper…a big piece of paper. What vision are you creating for three years out for your health, your relationships and your vocation?

For instance, let’s look at your health vision. Are you writing out your actual diet, your exercise routine, meditation routine? Don’t say you’re going to meditate for an hour a day and you have not meditated in 3 years. As your coach, I know very clearly that it’s not going to happen. You might be successful for a couple of days but you’ll rubber band back. Tell me that in three years I am going to be meditating 30 minutes three times a week. That itself is going to make a huge difference for you. Now this week, your action step is to meditate five minutes a day. As your coach, I will totally support you with that vision and your action step. One of the core practices is to make a healthy choice today. Remember, we can climb Mt. Everest one step at a time.

Be taking action steps. Take small, sweet baby steps and you will reach your goal, rock and roll and shake and bake your life. Bye for now!

If you would like to explore creating a life you would love, or writing your 2020 vision, contact me, schedule a complimentary 20 minute phone call with me, Carolyn Rose Hart!

Enhance Your Life

Be A High Performer

What does it look like to be a high performer? What does it look like to really bring your 2020 Vision into physical reality and have the life that you would love to live? As you see a bigger story for yourself, hiring a high-performance leadership coach will help you rock your results.

You may be asking, “What can a coach do that I can’t do myself?” For one thing, helping you identify who are you is huge. It’s about clarity and identifying your intentions and your values. Once you will arrive at the clarity, you are ready to take steps toward your vision.

Your standards of integrity are your values. When you put values and intentions together, you can create a vision for what you see going forward. Clarity is a mover and shaker in people’s lives. Many people ask this question, “What do I want?” Experience the present and see that the future happens now.

So focus on the future and stay in the present moment with the vision you have for your life. Your life intentions and your standards of integrity inform your vision and your vision can bring forth mover and shaker goals that really make the difference in your life, your business and your relationships. I encourage you to pick three goals in any one area or three over one of these areas: health and wellness, relationships, vocation, hobbies, or time and money freedom. Once you have a few goals, identify a few baby steps in the direction of your dream based on these new goals?

Goals generally are reached within three weeks to three months. Add on a new goal every time you reach the previous goal. Keep evolving and taking action steps. Remember, one step at a time will get you up Mount Everest.

Are you willing to be uncomfortable for the sake of growth then identify a stretch goals? Being uncomfortable creates exponential growth. As a power tool, you can step beyond what common sense would allow. Try it and let me know what your experience is.

It’s not about doing the same thing you’ve always done. If you do the same thing that you’ve always done, you will get the same thing that you’ve always gotten. If you’re not happy with what your life is like and the results that are occurring for you, then shake it up. Be willing to be uncomfortable and identify a stretch goal.

So I ask, “What do you intend to do with your life?” You are not getting any younger. Are you sharing your gifts and serving your family, community and maybe even the world?

Here’s the big catch: seek failure. Seeking failure is how you keep moving forward. It’s choosing an action and not being concerned about the outcome. It’s saying, “Let me try this action and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.” Guess what? You get to try the next door with a new action behind it. It’s about always moving and shaking.

Ignore conventional approaches. Conventional approaches are approaches that most common thinkers would see as being practical, being safe. It’s about being a brave thinker not about being safe. Just being willing to consistently move forward. It’s not about buying a $20,000 car when all you can afford is a $12,000 car and there are other bills to pay.  To go out and buy a $20,000 car is not seeking failure. It’s definite failure.

See what door is for you to open. Don’t worry about, “Am I going to fail?” or “Do I have everything perfect for me to take this step?” or “Do I know everything that I need to know about taking this step?” It’s about really taking the leap because when you take the leap, you will have quantum leaps in your life. You will have things appear that you had no idea how it came about. It’s about taking massive imperfect action.

Make your move before you’re ready. It’s okay and moves can be small baby steps. When you’re noticing what you’re noticing and it’s, ‘oh my gosh, I’m not ready.’ ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t know how that’s going to happen.’ Just do it. Just do it. If it’s something that isn’t going to cause you to not have food in your mouth or your rent that month, then just go ahead and do it. Make your move before you’re ready.

It’s not about wishing and wanting because wishing and wanting are absolutely going to be wishing and wanting. You are going to cycle around and around wishing and wanting something. It’s about the pursuit. Dreams crystallize when they’re pursued. Action taken is pursuing your dream. No dream occurs without taking action.

Being vision driven is the expansive, easy way to live your life. It’s not being desperate such as, ‘I’ve got to have it.’ It’s about, “I want it. This is really what I want and now I’m going to take action. I’m partly ready and I don’t know how this is going to happen, but I’m going to go for it because I know when a door opens that is aligned with my vision, I can actually go through that door and it’ll be okay. I can be unattached to the outcome and know that I’m going to keep moving this dream forward. I know what my intentions and values are and I am vision driven.”

It’s like the game of football. Football has an offensive and a defensive side. If you’re always playing defense you’re never going to be able to score. You want to be playing on the offensive side. It’s trusting that taking the ball and running the ball down the field will make a difference. It’s about taking action because you can do this. You are ready. You’re a Blueprinter. You’ve worked on Blueprinting your life and have a solid state vision. You are vision driven.

If you would like to explore creating a life you would love, or writing your 2020 vision, contact me, schedule a complimentary 20 minute phone call with me, Carolyn Rose Hart!

Befriending Your Fear

A New Paradigm

I experience fear all the time. I was in Denver for the weekend at a National Speaker Association board retreat as a new board member.  I found myself sitting at the table with speakers who have built powerful speaking businesses and have experience with board responsibilities. This created not only fear as the newest member to the board but terror. Here I am telling myself the story that I am a peon, a newbie, a person who doesn’t have a clue. Have you ever felt that way?

Let me tell you, my fear was rising up. That was the moment that I easily could have sent the president of the board an email saying, “Hey, you know what, I think I’ve changed my mind. This whole board thing really isn’t for me. I know there are lots of other people who would happily fill this position, so I am going to bow out.” I could have easily listened to my limiting conversations, played small and gone back into my safe and easy life. Yet, I could see that I would not be living the vision I had for my life. Growth would occur for me if I  went to that retreat and played full out. And growth occurred. Look what I would have missed if I had written the email. Holy Cow.

We all have a stories. We have paradigms. Here’s the good news: you are not your story and you are not your paradigms. They say our heart is our second brain. It’s our voice of wisdom and our standards of integrity. Go ahead and befriend your fear as the stories show up. Shift the limiting conversations, paradigms, monkey mind and all those other names you give for the negativity bias. It is running your unconscious thoughts. Most of the time, you don’t even know the stories are occurring.

Reframing the fear doesn’t mean that you can’t do it. It just means that you haven’t done it yet. Between doing and seeing lies a true story called, “You are more than that!” You can be more when you tell a new story. Try making a list of successes each day! Tell yourself, I did this and this and this. I succeeded with those things. Acknowledging your successes is important in the process of befriending your fear.

Acknowledging can be done in the form of gratitude because gratitude is on the frequency of abundance. When you’re grateful for your life, you absolutely can experience a different life. You can do something to completely change your state like reading your life vision every morning.

Know that you aren’t going to get to your vision. You  must come from your vision. You must walk through your life as if your vision is  happening already and then take action.

An example: you are a person who wants to donate your house for women who have been abused. With the clarity about your vision of donating your house, you then take steps for that to occur. If that means cleaning out a box every week from your basement because you know you’re going to be moving in three years, then you clean out a box every week. That’s how it works. Taking action in physical reality. Befriending your fear is always knowing that you are successful. Success is doing what you said you would do. So step into this big story. Step into courage and shift the normal human experience of fear. Know that you are making a difference.

Courage is moving ahead in spite of your fear. Most people who are successful have learned to embrace that fear. The big difference is that fear doesn’t have to own you. You are absolutely going to have the experience of fear, but you also have your vision. Once you decide to step into your greatness, fear is going to be a constant companion. No kidding! Fear is there to keep you safe so it will show up like a roaring lion when you shake things up and do something out of your normal activity. Shift it and be the person you know yourself to be.

Don’t back off when fear rises. Only back off with what is not aligned with your vision. If it’s not aligned with your vision or it’s going to affect someone else in a negative way, then don’t do it. But if it’s aligned with who you are and your vision, do it…even if it scares you. Do it afraid.

When you feed your faith, you will absolutely have the vision that you want. There are people who don’t know how to drive a car. One step they can take is a small as sitting behind the wheel of the car. They need to step into that fear in order to learn to drive the car. Another example: you want to write a book. Learn to create a book cover which is a step in the direction of your dream. You want to have a business then create your business card. Have courage to move ahead in spite of the fear.

Once you learn how to make friends with your fear, you can open new doors that before you would not have seen. Would you walk away from your of fear in order to be safe or practical?

Fear helps us know the way to growth and expansion. Through  growth and expansion, the path to creating a vision for a life you would love will begin to unfold. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Does your vision scare you? Then it just might be big enough to be honored by your moving in that direction.

Winston Churchill said, “Success is moving from failure to failure.” Imagine that: failure to failure. Many people see failure as something they need to stop doing for the following reasons: They’re not good enough. They can’t do it. They need more education. They have to try even harder. So they stop moving in the direction of their dream.

Failure is going to rock your world, it will make you totally able to see what there is for you to see and how you can shift your focus in a bigger direction. So I ask, “How can you grow and evolve? What’s it going to take for you to really live your dream? Know that it is okay if you look at failure as an opportunity to learn.

If you would like to explore creating a life you would love, or writing your 2020 vision, contact me, schedule a complimentary 20 minute phone call with me, Carolyn Rose Hart!