I am a Woman of the World

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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!

Why Blueprint Your Leadership Vision

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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!

Get Unstuck & Develop Your 2020 Vision

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Move From Stagnation to a Vision Driven Life

Each day when you wake up, do you think about the day in front of you? Do you create your day in your first waking moments, or do you leave everything to chance? We create each day through the breath we take. We will breathe another 365 days and then we will have created another year. You’ll either create a life by design or by default. It’ll either be a vision-driven design or a condition-driven design. Every day, we have the opportunity to create the life we desire.Colorado Rocky Mountains

I want to tell you this wonderful story, which is told by my friend, Jean Houston. I want you to listen to what the messages are…

A man was walking in a botanical garden and glanced down at a cactus plant. With that, he heard 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 I will give you any pleasure you desire.” The man bent down and put his hand out and the frog jumped on his hand. He brought  the frog up to his face, and then he put it in his pocket. He heard this muffled voice, “Mr., you don’t understand. I’m a princess trapped in this 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.” With that, he held the frog up close to his mouth and said, “Thankfully at my age, I would rather have a talking frog.”

What I love about this story is that most people think they should want what others have. That just because society thinks we should be living in a certain way, that we need to do this also? You get to decide for your dream. You get to decide what matters to you.

I know, as a child, I was truly a follower. I was afraid to do something different for fear that people would question what I was doing, question who I was, and look at me as if to say, “You’re really an odd bird.” Today, I can see that was keeping me small. I was being a follower. I was trying to do everything that everybody else did so that I fit in…but I realized that fitting in isn’t the name of the game. Making a decision for my life regarding what my passion is… is the name of the game.

Now, I would say that I’m not much of a follower. As you probably have figured out, that I’m not very good about following rules either and I really don’t want to. For me, it’s really tuning into what’s unique about myself and choosing what’s important to me. The key is honoring myself. It’s not about following everything else. So much of our society is based on wanting what other people want…keeping up with the Joneses.

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 the 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 for your life.

In 1929, at the height of the Depression, someone had a vision to build the Empire State Building. At the height of the depression, they did it in 18 months, and it didn’t depend on the time as to when it started. It depended on the will for them to do it. Someone drove the project. Someone had the vision that there weren’t conditions that were going to stop them. The Depression wasn’t going to stop them because they could see it. If you can see it in your life, you can be it, do it, have it.

When you create a vision for the life you want to live, you want to be sure you are planting it in soil that is clean. Fresh soil, the best soil available because it is the soil for your life. If you plant your vision in soil with weeds, it is not going to survive. If we don’t kill the weeds, our vision is going to be toxic.

 

To be sure you are planting your vision in clean soil, ask yourself the following five questions:

  1. Does this vision bring me life?
  2. Does it align with my core values?
  3. Is there good in this for others?
  4. Will it cause me to grow?
  5. Do I need help from a higher power?

If the answer to all five questions is yes, then you are planting an amazing vision in soil that is fresh and clean. If any of the answers to the questions above is a no, then this is not your dream. If it does not align, go back to the drawing board. If it does align, you can stand in your power and integrity about moving forward with this dream. Go ahead and plant your vision in the soil of your life.

Think about a thermometer. It reads the temperature. The thermostat sets that temperature. Your vision is your thermostat. So suspend disbelief, put it on hold. If you rely on unseen forces then be willing to fail. There is power in that and there are lessons waiting for you so you can grow into the best version of yourself.

Take some time today to ask yourself, “What would I love to create? What do I love?” Write it down on paper. Now look back throughout your day to see if you are creating the day you desire and deserve. Being vision focused impresses into the mind of the infinite and clearly identifies what you would love. In other words, every action you take sends a powerful and clear signal telling the Universe that this is what I would love.

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!