A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  Lao-tzu

Eight years ago I was a control freak perfectionist workaholic!  I worked 16 hour days, every day.  One day, I found myself siting in my car in the parkade and crying.  I was tired, sooo tired!

Right then and there, I made a decision to change my life.  I decided that I needed to take care of me!  I decided to take back control of my life and start down a plan that focuses on creating a life that I am madly in love with!  I started this journey by learning self love and self care.

It wasn’t easy and it took time, but today I can say that my life has changed 180 degrees.  I make decision everyday that lead me further down the path of self love and self care.

I believe 150% believe that all growth comes from finding yourself first and you can only do that when you can take care of yourself!

Often people comment on my life and ask how I did it… but many many immediately become defensive and start to list off excuses for why they can’t make these changes in their life….  do you find yourself feeling these same things?

Myth: This makes me feel too selfish!
Truth: If you don’t take care of you, who will?

It is human nature to take care of others first; normally it is our immediate or extended families. It is survival right, taking care of our offspring, making sure that humanity survives the big bad world. Okay back to reality now, in North America we don’t have to worry that much about surviving. We can find shelter, food, and clothes those most basic survival needs. So we can move past the “survival of fittest” and work on self-care.

What would your family do, they are expecting you to take care of things, they are expecting you to cook, clean, do laundry, mend their bodies, help them feel better, get them over heart breaks and problems.

Ask yourself this… what would your family do if you died of a heart attack? Who would fix them then?

They would mourn and miss you, sure! You are a great person, well liked and dearly loved. But they would pick up their lives and move on. They would grow up and grow old, whether you are there or not. Wouldn’t you like to be there?

• What exactly have you done for yourself lately?
• How do you take care of yourself?
• How do you acknowledge yourself?

You are waiting for other people to do these things for you? Why, because you don’t deserve it, you are unworthy of it.

Wrong, you do deserve and are very worthy of some Extreme Self Care! This will be the turning point in your life!

There are many things that you can change about your life: jobs, careers, husbands/significant other, cities, countries, houses, cars… But does changing any or all of these things accomplish the feeling you are looking for? And if you make changes and do NOT change how you are taking care of yourself, does it really impact your life?

Things might change for a while, but they return you right back to the same space unless you decide to change yourself. Changing how you treat the most important person in your life … YOU! Then and only then will things flow together and begin to feel like what you are looking for.

Myth: My Family doesn’t understand me!
Truth: Do you know how to ask for what you need?

It is not that you family doesn’t understand you…. It is that you have let them walk all over you, of course not intentionally. You didn’t know better, they didn’t know better. The generation pervious to us, grew up and learned how to live based on the “Leave it to Beaver” family. The Wife stayed home, her whole existence was to be a good wife and mother. The Husband went off to work at 7am and came home at 5pm for dinner.

Today we live in a completely different environment. It is not easy to support a family on just one income and we are working harder and longer hours just to stay keep our head above water.

Now I believe that these strong values of taking care of our value are still very, very important. I believe that we adapt to what we need to get this task done.

Taking into consideration that we are ‘doing what must be done’ to make sure things are taken care of, what steps have you taken to let your family know what you need. It is easy!

• Talk to your significant other and family
• Ask for what you need
• Your family says sure, they would be happy to help that’s what families do

You know what the hardest part of all of this is…. Figuring out what it is that you need.
You may want to take a couple of minutes and just get really clear on what it is that you want to create for yourself. Sit down and really visualize as if you were right in the middle of your perfect day.

The next important step is put into words that feeling you are looking for. I recommend reading this over every week or so and updating it. As you start working through the steps you will start to see new improved visions and feelings. You will be able to be clearer and clearer of what you are looking to feel.

• The goal I want to achieve is:
• The reason I want to achieve this goal is:
• My life would change in the following manner if I achieved my goal:
• I would be happier if I achieved my goal because:

Maybe you have a very simple goal; maybe you just need to spend 30 minutes a day in peace and quiet. What you would like is when you get home, there is a space to be created for 30 minutes so that you can let go of things at the office and be fully present and enjoy your time with your family.

So let’s try that discussion again.

• Call a family meeting – just let them know you have something you want to run past them
• Ask them what for what you need – I would like it if for 30 minutes after I get home from work, that I can spend time alone in my office/bedroom, I just feel that I want to be able to switch gears from work and then I can spend better quality time with you because I am not worrying about things at the office.
• Your family says sure – well of course they do, your family loves you, they just didn’t know that you needed the time.

There is one catch to this though. You actually need to do it. Use your 30 minutes, meditate, exercise, read, BUT leave work at work and truly be fully present with your family. If they can see that nothing has changed, then they will not accept your boundaries.

Myth: I don’t have the time!
Truth: Creating organization gives you the time.

Sure you can keep avoiding this for the rest of your life, or you can make the time.

Daily habits or rituals will help you organize your time. How much time do you spend looking for your bills at the end of the month? How much time do you spend on Saturday on doing laundry?

Now I have made a conscious effort to get up 30 minutes early so that I have time to myself in the mornings, to me the effort to get up is very little compared to the enormous benefits I get from having my day completely organized.

Here is My Nourishing Getup Ritual – Nourishing to your soul and body.

Some simple things that help, pick an alarm clock that has a nice sound or use the radio so that you wake up to music. I give myself a few extra minutes in the morning, this allows me to wake up and stretch my way awake, without feeling the rush, rush of the day. I have made it a practice to get up with enough time to get myself up, showered and ready before it was necessary to get the kids up.

My morning goes something like this, I spend about 15 minutes lying in bed just letting myself wake up and stretching, you know like cats. I head for the shower, lots of time and lots of hot water, in our house that is definitely a consideration.

Now I have some quiet time, to plan my day, or write in my journal. I do this one in silence, no music, no people and no TV.

It is a very relaxing way to start the day. Now you are saying “just how am I going to do that?” or “My little ones wake up too early to do that”, you’re right, your life is not exactly that same as mine, but anything is possible, you just have to make the decision to do it.

The point is start something… even if the only thing you do is wake up 15 minutes early and drink your water/juice in silence while you are writing your “To Do” list for the day. And for gosh sake, have a proper breakfast, your body has just spent the last 6 or 8 hours with no incoming food. Now is the time. It is important and matters, because you are important!

But really you don’t even need to go this far. It can be super simple, like laundry. When you leave your bedroom in the morning, you bring the laundry basket with you. Then as you are walking out the door, you turn on the washing machine. It washes while you are at work. When you get home, throw the laundry in the dryer, by the time dinner is cooked and eaten, you can put the laundry away. While you might not be able to do this with every load, kids clothes, towels, bedding all could be easily done, with no extra time on your part.

Myth: If I can’t do it correctly, I don’t do it at all!
Truth: Simple Changes make a big difference.

There are some people (me included) that has some trouble with this. You may be a control freak or a perfectionist, either way you have placed on yourself these enormous expectations. You have being doing it for as long as you can remember and you probably have no clue about where to even begin to stop.

But you can stop and you can move on from here.
First: Breathe
Second: Breathe again
Third: Pick just one thing to change

It is not possible to change everything in one day, one week or one year even, this is a process, a journey to create a better you.

Now what did you pick? Maybe you picked setting some boundaries at work. You have decided that you would like to work only 8 hours a day rather than 16. What are the actions you need to do this? Let me tell you about the actions I took to do this.

1. I hired people around me that could take on some of my redundant tasks, not as easy it sounds; sometimes you go through some stress. One giving up that particular area, two maybe the person you hired or delegated to just can’t figure out the task. It can be done though patience.

2. I started to say no to taking on additional tasks, I would simple say that I was loaded right now, but they could check back in 3 months or I would recommend a ‘up and comer’ who had promise. I could let go of the task and help another show their potential.

The trick is really to get organized. How many of your tasks can you have automated? How things can you create templates for? How many things can you delegate?

The next trick let go of them. Think of it in terms of mentoring, you are mentoring the people around you to grow their careers and show their potential. You don’t need to do it all.

With all these things in place you will find that naturally you just don’t even need to be at work as much. And all the things that you used to do are still getting done. There is one last thing….
Sometimes, you just need to shut off the light and leave the office. Maybe you didn’t get something completed that is fine it will be there tomorrow. But your wife or husband might not be, your kids are another day older, your parents are another day older. If tomorrow never came, what would you say to your family? Go say it now!

It starts with just one baby step, one simple little thing, like delegating those reports.

Myth: I know ALL of this, I have tired and I failed!
Truth: Knowing is one thing, taking ACTION is totally different.

I am not one to dwell on the negative or the failures. Great you tired and failed before, that means one less way to try it. Now is the time to try something new. This one is for you! After reading many books and websites I noticed that there is always a specific person they are talking to, I mean it makes sense, there is no way to talk to everyone.

There are some many different people, places, environments, no one person can possible reach everyone. From my brief history you read at the beginning, you can see, I am just an everyday woman, with everyday problems and challenges like you.

I would never drink my water out of a crystal wine glass, a nice thought, but not at all particle with 4 teenagers and 6 cats running around the house. I am not the kind of woman that appreciates manicured nails, what will they look like after 5 minutes in the garden. I am not going to tell you something that I haven’t already tired and succeeded at. I believe the Extreme Simplicity as just as important as Extreme Self Care.

If the action isn’t easy, I just won’t do it. Life can be complicated and it can offer up some unbelievable challenges. Actions need to be very simple in order to be successful. Now that you know just how simple it really can be, you most certainly can pick yourself up and try again.

Now is the time to take action! One action, one simple step on the journey to Extreme Self Care. Success doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s about doing the little things every day. Each week, focus on making one change.

Once you get it down, focus on something else. If you improve just one thing every week, imagine the change you’ll see over the next five years.

Did you hear yourself in some of these excuses?  did they make you feel uncomfortable?   Great!  Now you have a great starting point.  Now you can make the decision to take back control and you can choose each and every day to focus on self love and self care.

Take your first simple step today!

Photo Credit: by massimo ankor

a Client asked me last week, what is that picture and how do I add a picture?

so I marched right off and put together a few tidbits about the Gravatar.

What is a Gravatar?

A Globally Recognized Avatar: Your Gravatar is an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things like comment or post on a blog. Avatars help identify your posts on blogs and web forums, so why not on any site?

 

Basically your email address and your picture are linked, so when you use that email address to add comments your picture will automatically be added.

Gravatar functionality has been added to WordPress to natively, this means EASY to set up on your blog!  If you do nothing it will automatically be used for your comments.  Many themes take advantage of the functionality by using it for the Author box as well.

How Gravatars work

How Gravatars work is based on your e-mail address. Therefore when you set up your Gravatar account it is important that you use the e-mail address that you use when posting and commenting on other’s sites/Blogs. Your e-mail address is what will trigger the display of the photo associated with it.

Gravatars are 80 pixels in height and width (80 x 80). So make sure you use a photo that fits those dimensions so that your face doesn’t look skewed when the system resizes your photo to those dimensions.

Why would you use a Gravatar?

From a branding perspective, having an avatar which is consistent across the web as representing you enhances your brand. Wherever people see that, they will associated it with you and your brand. This allows others to see your smiling face and really feel like they are talking with you.

From the blogger perspective, using gravatars enhances the sense of community. It turns comments into statement by real people. It enhances the sense of real community at the blog.

For all the instructions on how to set up your Gravatar, jump over to Wp-Clique: Click here

Choice and Freedom

I spent a lot of time, trying to come up with the perfect “manifesto”  I really want to share the depth of my passion for creating my own personal lifestyle.  I wanted to share how I believe with the bottom of my heart that teachers and mentors MUST practice what they preach.  They must walk the walk and talk the talk.

But here I sit in a the middle of a cafeteria with my iPad and my iPhone as my only source of internet and I am typing this blog post.

I was struck with the truth of the situation!  I got up this morning, I decided I need to take a drive to work on a specific problem for a client in person.  And while I wait for the meeting time.

BAMM!  I am walking the walk and talking the talk.  I choose and I have the freedom right NOW today to do what I love from where ever I am.  Sure I have some things that I choose to do because I have responsibility and consequences, it is not like I am going to let go of my personal integrity.

So What can you expect

Sacred Earth Partners is definitely a website with many topics, topics which I believe you want and need.  Topics that let you know that you are not alone on your journey to create YOUR perfect lifestyle.  Topics that open your soul, your mind and your heart.  Topics that allow your passions to shine through. Topics that speak to you core values. Topics that allow you to create your business with responsibility and integrity.

Along the way I will share how I got to here and I will take you along on the next phase of my journey.

I would love love for you to jump in and comment here on the blog or over on Facebook or Twitter.  Chat really soon

PS. Soon to come one of those cool manifesto posters!

One of the Main themes here at Sacred Earth Partners is to share the journey to create your Dream Lifestyle Business.   Whether you want to say you are Following your passions, Creating your dream lifestyle or Find freedom from your J.O.B., we are all looking for that special freedom that allows us to choose EVERY single day what we want to be, have or do.

So I went and asked some of my fav bloggers!  What better way to get to the bottom of our question?!?!

I asked each person:

1. What is the aspect you love most about having a lifestyle business?
2. Are there any bad things?

Here are the responses:

Mary Jaksch

 What I love the most about having a lifestyle business is that I can support others in creating the life they want. I enjoy creating content that people can put into practice – and that can really make a difference.

The downside is that I tend to work much more than I would if I was employed. I keep having to make sure I don’t neglect the fun side of life.

Mary’s Contact info:  Twitter / Facebook / Google+ /
Website: www.goodlifezen.com and www.alistbloggingbootcamps.com

Corbett Barr

My favorite part of owning a business is the freedom I have to choose what I want to work on. I’ve gotten to the point where having fun and enjoying what I do is the biggest aspect of making business decisions. That is priceless.
As for “bad” things, yes of course, running a business isn’t all unicorns and rainbows, but to me all the blood, sweat and tears are absolutely worth it.

Corbett’s Contact info:  Twitter / Facebook / Google+ /
Website: www.corbettbarr.com and  www.thinktraffic.net

David Risley

I love the fact that I don’t have to report to anybody and can set my own terms. I also like having my income depend on my ingenuity and execution, and not on “serving my time”, as is the case with so many jobs.

Of course, that’s also the “bad thing”, because paychecks aren’t guaranteed and you have to make things happen otherwise income dries up.

David’s Contact Info: Twitter / Facebook / Google+ /
Website: www.davidrisley.com

Colin Wright

I love the freedom that I enjoy every single day. Whatever my priorities, whatever my philosophical leanings, whatever lifestyle experiments I want to run and however much time I want to waste, I can. It’s a heady feeling, when I stop to think about it (and I do stop to think about it, because I can!).

(Bad things…)You miss out on certain aspects of pop culture, for sure. Water-cooler chats can disappear, as can certain situational relationships (coworkers and such). The tradeoffs and more than worth it, though!

Colin’s Contact Info: Twitter / Facebook / Google+
Website: www.exilelifestyle.com

Yaro Starak

 The aspect I love the most about having a lifestyle business is freedom of choice. It’s the freedom to do what you what, when you want to, wherever you want to. You can travel, choose what projects you work on and how long you do so.

The “bad” part you might say, is as a result of this freedom you need the discipline to actually do the work. You can choose not to work, but eventually the income dries up!

Yaro’s Contact Info: Twitter / Facebook /
Website: www.entrepreneurs-journey.com

Brian Gardner

The best thing about having a lifestyle business for me is the flexibility in work schedule. I can make my own hours, work from any location I want to and also take time off when I have things I need to do.

Brian’s Contact Info: Twitter / Facebook / Google+ /
Website: www.StudioPress.com

Kathleen Gage

What I love most about having a lifestyle business is just that, a lifestyle of my choosing. With the right focus, vision and commitment and am at liberty to live where I want, work when I want, with whom I want.
Through the business I have created I am able to serve my market in ways I only once had hoped for. I can impact those who know their life’s work is to impact their market in a positive, conscious and loving way.

There is a new economy many entrepreneurs are embracing. It is the economy that allows us to create the life and business we once only dreamed of.

The downside is to realize not everyone is ready to embrace this mindset and most people, due to their own belief system, will never embrace their full potentiality.

It starts with the belief that the status quo is no longer applicable. Then comes the vision, the plan and the action. From there, it is holding in check what we know to be true and possible.

Kathleen’s Contact Info: Twitter / Facebook / Google+ /
Website: www.kathleengage.com

 Henri Junttila

If I have to name one thing, I’d say it’s the freedom to do what I want. I can spend my time how I want. I can be wherever I want in the world, and I basically get to decide what goes on.

The worst thing would be uncertainty. You just never know what’s going to happen, but in a way, it’s only bad if you frame it that way.

Henri’s Contact Info: Twitter / Facebook / Google+ /
Website: www.wakeupcloud.com

Terri Levine

What I love is the freedom it gives me to live my life and spend time with my family and friends and my foundation and also with my self.

There is no negative. There are only blessings.

Terri’s Contact Info: Twitter / Facebook / Google+ /
Website: www.TerriLevine.com

Mars Dorian

I luv the fact that you can work on whatever you want, whenever you want. You have total freedom in structuring your career, and you only need a notebook to reach the whole world. That blows me away like a tsunami.

Sure, it takes a lot of INSANE commitment and sweat, but I rather work like crazy than to have a nasty boss breathing down my spine and telling me what to do. Everything worthwhile comes with a sacrifice, and to create my own lifestyle, I do whatever it takes.

Mars’ Contact Info: Twitter / Google+ /
Website: www.marsdorian.com

Sam Spurlin

Everyone is going to say this — but flexibility. I like being able to work on my business whenever I decide to. Most of the time that means working on it early in the morning before I start my classes and school work. Sometimes, I’ll sneak in a little work during lunch or between classes. The point is that I can do the work whenever I want to do it — not when somebody tells me I need to do it.

At the same time, this is also something that can be bad. As a full time graduate student, it can be easy to let my school commitments overwhelm the work I need to do on my business. Because the work is so flexible I can sometimes get into the habit of not carving out the time in my schedule that it really needs (and deserves). While flexibility is great, sometimes I need to make my lifestyle business a little more inflexible in order to help it grow.

Sam’s’ Contact Info: Twitter / Facebook / Google+ /
Website: www.samspurlin.com

Thom Chambers

The ability to let life happen. When your work is a passion and a mission rather than a chore, you’re happy for it to be part of who you are rather than simply something you do. You’re happy to work every day, because work is more fun than fun.

And when you work every day, doing work that matters, you make progress. You get ahead, slowly, one day at a time.

So when the phone call comes from a friend who’s just visiting town for a day, you can meet up. When you get unseasonably great weather, you can spend the day outside. You can let life happen, rather than squeezing it in to little blocks of time on your evenings and weekends.

Work and play, in harmony.

You have to be patient. It will take time before your lifestyle business actually feels like it’s providing the lifestyle you want. There’s a lot of work to put in before you see any reward. You have to be willing to put in the hours, days, months, and years of groundwork first.

It’s worth it when things start to fall into place, though.

Thom’s Contact Info: Twitter /  Facebook /Google+ /
Website: www.mountainandpacific.com

Barrie Davenport

It’s hard to pin down the one aspect I love most about a lifestyle business — there are several! I love having the flexibility to work when and where I wish. I love being an entrepreneur and the satisfaction of building my own business. And I get tremendous satisfaction in helping people all over the world who are accessible through the Internet. It has opened a huge, new world for me.

The only downside is that it’s easy to get isolated. I have to make myself step away from the computer and go outside, go talk to a neighbor, call a friend. I miss the personal interaction that you often have in a “real” job. But the pros far, far outweigh the cons!

Barrie’s Contact Info: Twitter /  Facebook / Google+ /
Website: www.liveboldandbloom.com

Bonus!

Carrie Wilkerson

I love having a lifestyle business because that means it evolves as my life changes. So, instead of me having to adapt my life, my family and my goals around my ‘set business structure’ – I am able to adapt my business plans to an ever-evolving life! Being in control of your income is empowering and thrill while terrifying all at the same time, but I cannot imagine my life any other way!

Carrie’s Contact Info: Twitter /  Facebook / Google+ /
Website: BarefootExecutive.TV

I don’t know about you, but I loved connecting with these great bloggers!  I love to see that even though there are ups and downs and sometimes a LOT of  work, you can create life on your own terms!

My heart-felt THANKS goes out to every one that participated in this article!

Why sign up?

I truly believe if you found your way to our website, we ARE Diva Sisters (okay and brothers =) )!  I would love to get to know you better and help you along your personal journey to a Lifesytle that really rocks your world!

Receive Super Awesome Monthly Articles, Interviews, Information on how to create your very own Lifestyle Business.

1. Subscribers are smart and sexy!
2. As soon as you Subscribe you get a copy of Live Purposely and Change the World.
3. You will receive a copy of the latest edition of The Passion Diva Guides, regularly and often!
   
4. You never have to check the site for updates again, stay tuned in and receive the latest and greatest first.
5. It’s totally free.
6. You will be able to get exclusive invites to my ecourses and programs.
7. Your info will never be shared with anyone. I love you like a sister and I hate spammers as much as you do. Pinky Swear!

Name:

Email:

Jane speaks about how the last three decades of you life can be even better then the previous ones were, I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to experiencing that!

Positive Psychology focuses on changing how you view life, looks at how making small changes to your actions can make a big impact to your entire life!

I like to think that this also proves that same process will work for Self Care. Taking Simple Steps every day! Deciding every day that you WANT to do something different.

Flowtown – Social Media Marketing Application

PROJECT M-31: Simplify Your Life in 31 Days

Here at The Minimalist Path, a frequent challenge for many readers has been the direct guidance at creating a lifestyle that simplifies the current status of one’s life while building a maintainable minimalist approach.

* PROBLEM: There is a lack of guidance as to produce results quickly and easily
* SOLUTION: Break down the problem into small pieces that can be successfully achieved daily. Through the action steps and advice provided in PROJECT M-31, you will develop habits of simplifying your daily life so that you can address the greater lifestyle issues of clutter and chaos.

PROJECT M-31 is your guide to developing a simplistic lifestyle that allows you to finally do the things you love. This is an action plan to get you where you want to be.

PROJECT M-31 will lead you down a month long path that goes step-by-step through YOUR life through simplifying practices.

What to expect & What you will get by purchasing PROJECT M-31…

* IMMEDIATE ACCESS to 66 pages, 10,000+ words of straight-forward guidance
* Day by Day guide to simplifying your life
* A scheduled Task Time on each day to maintain a manageable lifestyle
* Simple Steps that are easy-to-follow and to the point
* Challenging yet Achievable Goals

What are some of the areas discussed in PROJECT M-31…

* EVERY major part of chaos in your life will be addressed
* Simple Tips that many of my readers at TMP have told me worked for them
* A ‘How-To‘ approach from the start that doesn’t lead to confusion or lack of focus

What you will be able to do once you accomplish the action steps in PROJECT M-31…

* Live a simpler life
* Have more time to enjoy the people, places, and things you love
* Regain control of your life

I hope you all take this opportunity to enjoy PROJECT M-31 and make significant progress at simplifying your life today.

click here to read more

It is that time again… Time to figure out my person intention and focus for the year.

Let me tell you a little what the one word theme is… it is the value or intention that you want to make front and center in your life.  It is the value/intention you will use to make every decision in the next year.

The first year (2009) that I decided to create a theme,  I used “Holistic“, I used this year to “clean up” many areas of my life.  I moved to create a new lifestyle, I focused on my both my mental and physical health.

The second year (2010), I used “Level-up” as my theme, I used this to again make significant changes in my life, re-aligning my business to fit my vision for my future, changing names and clarifying the focus.  I trained for and competed in my first triathlon.

Last year (2011) I used “Leadership” I  wanted to spend more time, impacting more people. I wanted to create a legacy.  I did this, not is exactly the way that I had thought when I decided to take on this theme.  Oh but I most certainly did it.

I am still on my mission to show people that “through simple steps you can achieve YOUR passionate life.” I most definitely will be keeping that a big part of my focus through the year.

This year though I decided that I need to stop feeling afraid to take that next step, I have said for the last year, “I am on the verge of something great.”  Awesome right… WRONG!  The universe gave me exactly what I asked for… I stayed on the verge all year.     okay okay I learned my lesson.  This year, I am great!  This year I cross over the verge and create everything I want.

This year my theme is Wealth and Health.  I know, two words, it is just something that feels right for this year.  so… there is no more half way, there is no more being on the verge. there is only full throttle ahead!

Wealth – Attract more money into my life to provide more freedom.

Health – Heal the broke parts of my body to enjoy more freedom.

Do I know what the means for me?  nope. Do I know how it is going to happen? nope.  But it doesn’t really matter.  It is my intention, it is my focus, it is my end result for the year.

I would love to hear your themes!  Come on over to Facebook and share your theme

Photo Credit: by duckiemonster