motivation

By Now

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By now I should be able to be calm and patient with my kids.
By now I should have my home decor and design taste all figured out.
By now I should have a proper dining table for guests.
By now I should be driving that fancy car I always eye in the street.
By now I should be making that amount of money.
By now I should have my emergency fund up and running.
By now I should be able to cook extravagant meals.
By now I should have upgraded my beauty routines.
By now I should have the body of my dreams.
By now I should have started my own business.
By now I should have a much higher number of followers.
By now I should have traveled the world.
By now I should have had a third kid.
By now I should have had kids.
By now I should have registered my kids in extracurricular classes.

How did you feel reading the above?

Have you noticed that dreadful word; should?

Should is such a heavy word that we need to question constantly; coupling it with an arbitrary deadline, such as “this many years into adulthood”, makes us feel much worse.

We feel less than, not enough and late to the party. Who decides who is invited and when the party starts, no one knows. We are just late. That’s what society taught us. So, we set too many goals but achieve none, and knock too many doors but don’t stick enough to see if one opens. We are too late to wait and find out.

I am here to tell you that yes, time is finite, but that makes it all the more worthy to spend doing what matters most to you, not what others say you should do.

Yes, you can’t do it all and have it all. Once you stop fighting that and accept it, you will see that the gift of time is to sharpen your big-picture most important goals, so you would seek only them and forsake the shoulds that are hunting you.

Your big picture goals are probably very different than mine, but the question is, why are you checking mine?

Reflect on where you want to be at the end of your life to uncover your most important goals and work backward from there to now, to your very next step right here.

Your timing is perfect.

By Now

Fire-in-heart-setting Conversations

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Have you had a fire-in-heart-setting conversation lately?

This was my experience yesterday when I met 9 members of the Sunrise Winners group I’ve been leading for a while to wake up early and build morning routines that will serve them to win their day. We spent more than 2 hours talking about our morning habits and what’s working for us versus what’s not. We gave each other action points to work on to fine tune our routines or move a goal we were trying to achieve, and we will use the group for accountability. 

The best part about this meetup was having a genuine shared interest; to wake up early to take care of ourselves before taking care of our world, be it a family, school, a career or a side business.  I left the meeting feeling a charge like no other. I told my own accountability partner about it, and she promised me she will often remind me this is one of my favorite activities to elevate my state and that connection with like-minded people pushes me forward.   

This feeling reminded me of this post I wrote before.

I wish you such flames of high energy, dear reader.

Fire-in-heart-setting Conversations

Whiteboard Love

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What’s the most important thing I need to do today?

This is a wonderful question that keeps me focused. I wrote it in on the whiteboard in my office right in front of my desk. I will keep it there for a while until I need to change it again when it gets blended with the environment.

The first thing I asked for when I started my current job three years ago is a whiteboard to write inspiring quotes or questions on, like I had done in my previous job. Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I thought how grateful I really am for this space I am inhabiting 8 hours a day. It’s the first office I have with a door, a whiteboard and an evergreen plant.

I never wrote a To-Do list on my whiteboard. I have my planner for that. My whiteboard is to inspire me and whoever passes by my office or checks my social media.

In fact, my early Instagram feed was photos of my whiteboard quotes, not always taken in the highest quality, but always motivating and never boring quotes like this and this and this

I also kept all the quotes I picked and wrote on my whiteboards throughout the years in a Google doc so I wouldn’t repeat one by mistake. When I started this job, this doc came in handy as I referred to it to write quotes again.

What’s on your whiteboard?

Whiteboard Love

What Friends Are For

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Sometimes, even though you know all the facts about your life, you still need someone to say them out loud to you to remind you when you get hard on yourself or drown in comparison or feel behind.

My friend reminded me:

You have a full-time job
You have a family and young kids
You have a house to run
You have a podcast that you care about most
You are writing daily
You are doing your best

I hope you have a friend like that.

What Friends Are For

Kind Reminders

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“Stress is caused by being here but wanting to be there.”-Eckhart Tolle

I think this is the kind of quote the describes many of my feelings lately, and our human condition in general.

When I am with my kids, I want to be working. When I am working, I want to be with my kids. When I am creating content I want to make progress on the online workshop I paid for, when I do the workshop assignments I feel I need to create content.

I want to speak kindly to myself so I am writing this post to remind me and also you dear reader:

  • You did super well so far considering all the circumstances.
  • There is no rush.
  • You are exactly where you need to be.
  • You will figure it out.
  • You are not lazy.
  • You are doing your best.
  • Your deadlines are great but remember you made up most of them.
  • You will get there.
  • It’s creatively wonderful to rest.
  • More strolling, less scrolling (Dani Dipiro)
Kind Reminders

Woke Up On The Wrong Side Of The Bed?

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Maybe you did not sleep well, maybe you did not sleep enough, maybe as a woman, it’s your hormones and you are in your winter, which I believe is a time you need to be totally resting, but you still need to show up for life. Maybe you are anxious about an upcoming meeting or a work load that needs to get done this week.

So what should you do? How do you keep this energy form ruining your day, week and being picked up by people around you? Energy is contagious after all.

Continue reading “Woke Up On The Wrong Side Of The Bed?” →
Woke Up On The Wrong Side Of The Bed?

The Corridor Principle

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When I read my gratitude journal entries, I sometimes find myself grateful not only for people I have in my life and moments in my day but for new ideas I am learning. One idea I’m so grateful I learned from listening to Brian Tracy is called The Corridor Principle.

The Corridor Principle states that you will not see the doors that await for your in the corridor you’re about to walk unless you start walking.

That is another way to say you will not know the opportunities you might be presented with until you start. This idea is about encouraging you to start whatever you’re reluctant or scared to pursue, and how starting will help open new doors you wouldn’t have thought existed otherwise.

What a beautiful secret to success.

The Corridor Principle