Myrtle Moore

The Project ME Holiday Gift Guide

Kelly Pietrangeli — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 11:04:01 GMT

There are plenty of lists going around at this time of year for what to buy the kids, your partner, your mother – even your pet. In true #ProjectMe spirit, this list is for YOU. Drop some hints or share this post to inspire someone with what to give you this Christmas. Or why not treat yourself?

Project Me for Busy Mothers: A Practical Guide to Finding a Happier Balance by Kelly Pietrangeli. Of course if you don’t have my book, this needs to be at the top of your wish list! This is not the kind of book you read cover to cover and return to the shelf. It has corresponding, downloadable action sheets to help you become your own Life Coach and be proactive in all areas of your life.

The popular Project Me 90-Day ‘Design My Day’ Planner and the BRAND NEW ‘Date With Me’ 12 Month Workbook are on sale separately or together. Unlike some planners which cram a ton onto each page, this simple, undated, one-page-per-day planner really works to keep you focused on how you’re spending your time and what your biggest priorities are each day. It also includes ‘Design My Weekend’ and great productivity and time management tips. Challenge yourself to designing your day for the first 90 days of the new year to see the positive difference it makes to your daily life.

The ‘Date With Me’ Workbook (also now available here on AMAZON) has everything you need to do a Project Me Life Wheel® check-in consistently every month for a year. It includes My Dream Vision sheets to help you tap into the power of visualisation; Ideas Into Action to take the ideas and break them down into small steps; Blank pages and charts to hash out your thoughts and ideas; + an end of year review. Having a monthly ‘Date With You’ will help you feel in closer touch with all areas of your life.

Here’s a video of me showing what’s inside both of these planners!

PROJECT WE is my online membership club for helping you get on top of all areas of your life in a fun and motivating way. Amazing things happen when ME becomes WE!

Find encouragement and support, share resources, plus get added accountability to stay on track with whatever you’re working towards.

Membership includes immediate access to the Project WE Members’ HUB. Begin with the Project WE Kick-Starter Programme, then choose from the growing collection of videos, audios, worksheets and tools in each of your 8 Key Life Areas.

It’s entirely flexible so you can dip and dive into it in your own time, in your own way – with no pressures to ‘keep up’ and plenty of positive encouragement along the way.

This is like a foundation course for your LIFE and your membership can run for as little or as long as you need it to get yourself on track in whichever areas of your life you choose to focus on. Join before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st to receive a bonus digital Design My Year Workbook!

Head here for all of the juicy Project WE details!

Every year I send out this My Dream December 2-page worksheet to my lovely newsletter subscribers and every year I get so many heart-felt thank you’s. This tool helps you to identify what really matters to you over the holiday season. It’s my free gift to you!

Photo by Scott Webb from Pexels

The post The Project ME Holiday Gift Guide appeared first on Project Me.

Create Christmas Experience Vouchers

Kelly Pietrangeli — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 07:30:42 GMT

Stuck for what to get your kids for Christmas this year?

Do they already have the latest gadgets and ‘must have’s’?

Or maybe money’s a bit tight and you need to find something great for not a lot of cash.

Last Christmas I didn’t have a clue what to give my teen and tween boys. When they were younger it was so easy to buy lots of small stuff plus one big ‘star’ gift. It gave them the excitement of seeing a load of presents under the tree and the fun of unwrapping them all.

But what do you get older kids who’ve outgrown toys, have plenty of games and certainly don’t need any more gadgets?

I put my thinking cap on and came up with an idea…. I wasn’t 100% sure if it would go down well, but I had a pretty good feeling about it.

Christmas experience vouchers they could redeem for a whole variety of things!

I started making a list of what each of them would consider a real treat, then I got to making them. I created the fun designs online (try Canva for loads of templates) and then printed them out and wrapped them all individually so they’d still have the fun of unwrapping them all. Here are a few examples:

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I can’t begin to describe how excited they both were as they unwrapped each one on Christmas morning!

Whew!

And of course the STAR gift was a date with yours truly:

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My younger son redeemed his for a day with me at the amusement park. It’s a good thing I love roller coasters! My older son redeemed his for a lovely day in town, eating in a fancy Thai restaurant, then off for ice creams and strolling around. My sons make pretty hot dates.

At the end of the day, most kids would rather have quality time with you than anything else.

The post Create Christmas Experience Vouchers appeared first on Project Me.

What To Do If You Don’t Like Christmas

Kelly Pietrangeli — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 10:36:25 GMT

I’ve had way too many unhappy Decembers when my kids were small. It got to the point that I began to dread the holiday season. And then I got myself even more wound up because my friends LOVED Christmas and I felt even worse that I didn’t.

And I would tell everyone I met the same story:

‘I’ve had to host Christmas for my in-laws every year since I got married. His parents come to stay for the entire holiday period and his sister and her husband get to come and go. My kitchen is completely taken over by my MILs boxes of kitchen gadgets, knives and cookbooks and I’m in charge of food shopping from her list. The whole thing revolves around cooking, eating and clearing up and no-one ever wants to play games or do anything fun together. The men just eat and go off and watch what they want on TV or have a snooze. I have a baby (and then later another baby and a toddler) and I’m supposed to do this every year because nobody else has a house big enough. I never see my own family on Christmas because it’s only my mother and she doesn’t want to come over and be a part of the madness…’

This was the story I told to anyone who’d listen. If my hairdresser innocently asked, ‘What have you got planned for the holidays?”, I’d launch into it all.

I’d get SO jealous of friends who went to see his parents on Christmas Eve and her parents on Christmas day and had the rest of the time to themselves to relax and hang with their kids. I deeply missed my pre-marriage tradition of travelling to warm places, smugly sipping cocktails on the beach whilst escaping the holiday madness.

Because I now begrudged Christmas, I procrastinated on decorating the house and didn’t do any holiday baking with the kids. I detested the mad consumerism, crazy shopping crowds, searching to find the right presents and then having to wrap them all. I dreaded writing out Christmas cards and queueing at the post office. It got worse every year.

Then one year, as I was getting more into my personal growth, I’d read some books by Deepak Chopra and The Dalai Lama and started learning about how my thoughts create my reality. I had just started my Project Me (only for myself at that point) and I was becoming more proactive about my happiness.

I made a decision to not tell anyone my usual story that December. So when my hairdresser asked about my holiday plans I kept it short and positive. And when friends asked if I was bracing myself for the invasion of the in-laws, I’d simply tell them I was planning to make the best of it this year and focus on the good.

On Christmas Day I decided to be like the men in our family and I stayed out of the kitchen and let my MIL and SIL take over. By then my SIL had two little ones so I just took charge of all of the kids so they could cook in peace while I put batteries into new toys, read assembly instructions and stayed away from the kitchen madness that always stressed me out.

And I was nice and I smiled. And when my buttons did get pushed, I went to a quiet room and breathed through it instead of reacting.

That year, when my MIL was leaving after the holidays, she gave me the biggest, warmest hug EVER and said it was the best Christmas! After she left I had a little cry when I imagined what I must have been like ALL of those previous Christmas’s. I must have been such hard work! Begrudging, resentful and miserable. It really hit me that it was never them, it was ME. In fact it’s never the other person, it’s always how we choose to interpret and react. Over the years I’d built up this hugely exaggerated story around the holiday season.

And from then on I found my strength to kindly but firmly do things the way I wanted to do them. I set some boundaries. I gave myself permission to shut myself in my room to relax on my own without worrying I was being antisocial. I simplified things and let go of perfection. I stopped begrudging my in-laws for not playing games on Christmas and I instigated them myself. I looked for all that there is to feel grateful for. And there was a lot. I’m not going to lie. I still don’t LOVE Christmas and it’s not something I look forward to with joyful glee, but I stopped telling that whole damn story and I’m so much happier without it.

WHAT STORIES ARE YOU TELLING YOURSELF AND MAYBE OTHERS ABOUT HOW THE HOLIDAY SEASON IS FOR YOU? Could you re-tell the story with a more positive slant? How can you take responsibility for your own happiness and stop blaming others? Share in the comments below. I’ll be personally reading and replying to them all.

The post What To Do If You Don’t Like Christmas appeared first on Project Me.

Have Yourself A Simpler Little Christmas

Kelly Pietrangeli — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 08:35:24 GMT

Are you prone to over-complicating things? A perfectionist who thinks everything needs to be just so?

This Christmas give yourself the gift of keeping it simple – and remember the reason for season. It’s not about crazy spending or making your home look like a decorating magazine photo shoot. Christmas is about spending time with people you love and celebrating another year passed.

Sure, food needs to go on the table and there’ll be a few long faces if you don’t cough up some decent presents, but over the years I’ve learned to Simplify Christmas – and you can too.

Simple Planning

Yes, the three wise men brought presents, but that doesn’t mean you have to go overboard.

Hone your list to those you really must buy for.

If you’re working to a budget, set a spending limit – and encourage your family to stick to one too.

Plan ahead and do as much online as possible – it’s convenient and cost effective. If you must head out to the shops, take a list and stick to it. You know what happens – you find one more cute thing for one kid and then you have to buy one more thing for the other(s). Before you know it, it’s out of hand!

Shop solo – you’ll get it done quicker and spend less.

Simple Gift Giving

A small thoughtful gift will be appreciated much more than an expensive thoughtless one bought in desperation. Likewise, it’s far better to invest in one great gift than a whole load of tat. And during the holiday season there’s a phenomenal amount of tat in the shops! Resist the urge to beef up your offering by adding on some cheap, good-for-a quick-laugh joke present which will only end up in a landfill.

Consider homemade vouchers for kids which they can redeem for things like breakfast in bed, a movie night with popcorn, bowling, an at home mani/pedi/spa evening, a disco night, hitting the golf driving range, a massage, a candlelit bubble bath, dessert or meal of their choice, one on one time with daddy (or you). Click here to see examples of my super cute homemade experience vouchers. You can also do an adult version for your partner – let your imagination run wild!

For younger kids it’s more about opening the present than what’s actually inside, so consider buying them stuff they need – crayons, art supplies, books, clothes, bubble bath, a calendar and wrapping them separately to make it more exciting.

Faraway relatives love to be kept in touch with what’s happening in your life. Make calendars/photo albums online and they’ll become treasured heirlooms.

One of the loveliest gifts I received one year was my friend Anna’s granola in a beautiful jar tied with tartan ribbon. Yummy!

And buy quality not quantity. I’d rather have a small bar of decent chocolate than my own body weight in Quality Street.

Simple Christmas Dinner

What can you cut back on? Do you really need five different vegetable dishes? Could you alternate and make a couple of different ones each Christmas to keep it interesting – and less work.

Don’t be afraid to use short-cuts if you want to. Store-bought tubs of gravy and cranberry sauce, for example.

And remember it’s just one day. Don’t spend loads on ‘special food’ – you’ll end up eating it for days (or throwing it away). Immediately after the big day you’ll want to eat lighter and all the cakes, chocolate etc will only fill you with guilt.

Simple Delegation

Don’t be afraid to delegate or ask for help. Who can take something off your plate? Your partner may not wrap gifts as pretty as you or might have a different idea of what to buy his mother, but if it frees you up to do other things – let go of perfection and take help in whatever form it comes.

If you’re hosting Christmas, don’t be afraid to delegate dishes to your guests. It saves time, money and stress. Remember – people come for people – it’s the conversations and the occasion (not the food) that make the memories.

Get everyone on board on Christmas Eve with peeling, prepping and chopping – to a backdrop of Christmas music (and with a few cocktails thrown into the mix – mocktails for the kids).

Simple Family traditions

If you don’t already have one, make one. My friend Suzie had the genius idea of a bad taste Christmas sweater competition which created a lot of laughs.

My kids always put on a Christmas day variety show with their cousins, complete with music, comedy, dancing and tickets for entry with a VIP section.

At the very least, get out and go for a walk around the hood to check out the Christmas lights.

Simple Sustainability

Rather than fancy wrapping paper, use Christmas stampers (holly leaves, Christmas tree and reindeer) and three ink pads in green, red and silver to decorate plain brown paper. Super stylish, eco, and you’re not stuck with all those irritating bits of leftover wrapping paper that never quite fit another present.

Small kids won’t know the difference between brand new and gently used. Check out eBay or school fairs for nearly new games, toys, clothes. For hard to please teenagers, re-gift something special that belonged to you or your parents – a vintage dress, watch or piece of jewellery. Challenge yourself to make just one of your gifts a second time around one.

How do you keep it simple? What are your top tips for a low stress festive season? We can all learn from each other – so please share in the comments below!

The post Have Yourself A Simpler Little Christmas appeared first on Project Me.

Eat and Drink Smart This Christmas

Kelly Pietrangeli — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 09:54:33 GMT

Do you start off with good intentions, then find yourself eating and drinking everything in sight ‘because it’s Christmas’ – and regret it as soon as you step on the scale in January?

December is no time for diets or deprivation – you deserve to enjoy yourself! But how can you find the happy balance between indulgence and self discipline?

It’s all about having a clear plan.

Your eat smart strategy

Decide what’s strictly off limits – bread, cakes, cheese, chocolate, liqueurs? Write it down and put it where you can see it. Tell your family and friends if you want added accountability.

Identify which treats you’ll allow yourself and in what quantity. Got a sweet tooth? Savour one really luscious mince pie, split dessert or just have a mouthful of someone else’s. Can’t resist the cheese board? Allow yourself a small taste of each one with a couple of crackers and don’t go back for more.

Fix your festive feeding days. Use the 80/20 rule – eat healthily 80% of the time and have pretty much what you like the other 20%. Or check your social calendar for the week – pick two days to tuck in, then eat sensibly the remaining five. (A couple of days of overeating isn’t a disaster – but daily pigging out will leave you with some real work to do in January.)

Watch out for portion distortion – you don’t need to pile your plate sky high. If you go back for seconds go heavy on the veg. While you’re at it, eat slowly and mindfully – you’ll be less likely to overeat. If you’re hosting, send leftovers home with friends or family.

Heading out to a cocktail party? Eat a healthy snack before you leave home and just say ‘no’ to canapés. Move away from the buffet table. Enjoy a calorie-free conversation with friends instead.

Your drink smart strategy

Tempting as it is to enjoy a glass of bubbly while you’re getting ready, resist. Better to nibble on a heart healthy fat and protein snack. It’ll stabilise your blood sugar and prevent the alcohol being absorbed into your bloodstream too quickly.

Try a handful of nuts, a few slices of chicken, an oatcake with humous washed down with a glass of water. It also means you won’t walk into the party parched and knocking back the first available drink.

Alcohol lowers resistance. A couple of drinks and you’ll be tucking into those cocktail sausages like there’s no tomorrow. You don’t have to go all-out at every invitation. Decide which you want to be your BIG nights out and be the designated driver for the rest.

If it’s a drinking night, remember that alcohol is second to fat for high calories. See your tipple as a glass of liquid fat (which essentially it is) – it’ll help keep things under control.

The smartest choices are red or white wine, or a clear spirit (vodka is the cleanest) mixed with diet tonic, light cranberry juice or fresh lime and soda. Keep it simple and stay loyal to one type of drink. Pace yourself – one drink an hour max is a good rule of thumb. Do your best to alternate drinks with a glass of water. Channel Cinderella and stop drinking at midnight.

Mixing drinks is never smart and will make you want to puke the next day. Avoid flavoured syrups and full fat mixers like the plague. Use energy drinks as mixers at your peril. Never drink through a straw.

Repeat after me: I will not do shots.

Drink a huge glass of water before bed and take a milk thistle supplement which helps shift the alcohol out of your body. Take another huge glass of water with you.

If it all went pear-shaped…

The reason for your hideous hangover symptoms is dehydration. And because alcohol makes you pee more, you also lose key vitamins and minerals – most notably vitamins B and C.

The bad news is that the hangover won’t stop till the alcohol is out of your system, but here’s a few suggestions to ease your suffering:

Berocca – will put back the lost vitamin B. You could also try taking this or a sachet of vitamin C before you start drinking.

Sprite – proven to be the number one hangover cure (who knew?), the bubbles will help you feel less nauseous and the sugar/caffeine combo will give you a lift.

Bananas – replace lost potassium and as a natural antacid can help settle a queasy stomach. If you can face it banana on brown toast with peanut butter (vitamin B again) for a double whammy.

A warm bath – helps sweat out the toxins.

And I know you won’t want to hear this, but exercise will boost your metabolism – helping your body detox quicker. Maybe not the Insanity Workout but perhaps you could manage a yoga class or a walk in the great outdoors?

Write down your eating and drinking goals and review them regularly. If you fall off the wagon, don’t think ‘oh well, I’ve blown it anyway’ and carry on. It’s so much easier to put on weight than to take it off again. Start each day fresh with renewed motivation!

Here’s your go-to mantra in times of temptation: ‘Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels.’

Want some accountability for your Christmas eating or drinking strategy? Come and join Project WE! We’ll hold you to it.

The post Eat and Drink Smart This Christmas appeared first on Project Me.

6 Strategies For Handling Festive Family Friction

Kelly Pietrangeli — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 09:48:42 GMT

Are you dealing with a difficult relative over the festive season? Someone who winds you up, drains your energy or is about as unpleasant as a root canal?

Maybe it’s a meddling mother-in-law, an opinionated uncle, a sulky sister, or a bratty nephew.

Family get-togethers are part and parcel of Christmas, so you need to go in with a game plan.

*Note: If your family gatherings are a picture of perfect harmony – do the decent thing and forward this on to someone who needs it.

Here are 6 strategies for dealing with those tricky family members.

1. Love what is

It’s time to let go of the notion that people ‘should’ – or even can – behave the way you think they ought to. The main source of stress and friction is wishing people were different than they are.

Before the big day, take time to sit quietly and think about how you wish they were. Now prepare to accept them exactly as they are. It doesn’t mean you have to like them or approve of their behaviour. You just need to accept it and stop driving yourself nuts. At best you might find they’re not as bad as you thought. At worst you can be detached from it. (see #2 below)

In her amazing book, ‘Loving What Is’ Byron Katie asks four questions to help you overcome negative feelings towards any person in your life. The results are truly transformational.

2. Wear protection

Unsolicited opinions (expressed with brutal family honesty) can push you to lash out. Press your mental pause button and switch on your protective shield.

Visualise an invisible shield which you can activate that protects you from negativity, insults and general bad vibes.

It sounds kind of wacky, but don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it. When someone’s questioning your gravy making technique, take a deep breath and imagine your protective shield.

When someone’s makes a snide comment or you feel those first signs of being triggered, activate that shield.

While you can’t control anyone else’s behaviour you can control your reaction to it. Rise above it, let it go and refuse to let it affect you.

3. Space out

Decide ahead of time how much you can realistically handle. If one day’s more than enough – don’t invite them (or stay with them) for several. If that’s not possible, give yourself some breathing space. Go hide out in your bedroom with a magazine for an hour, head out to ‘run some errands’, take the dog out for a long walk. Anything to give you some time out so you can re-enter with a fresh frame of mind.

4. See the funny side

My friend Suzie’s mother-in-law once gave her a pair of XL peach nylon pyjamas (she’s an XS) – they would have turned her into a fireball had she stood too close to a naked flame. Pushing aside all thoughts that maybe this was her intent, she chose to see the funny side. (Her MIL’s offerings have since become an amusing Christmas highlight.) Try not to take things personally and laugh it off whenever possible. See it as extra material for your collection of funny stories.

5. Use them

Are they staying with you and getting in your way? Give them jobs to do – topping up the drinks, handing out nibbles, lighting candles, emptying the trash. Keep ’em busy and out of your way. (After a while they’ll think twice about entering your space.)

6. Kill them

With kindness, of course! Put on your brightest smile and your warmest voice. You never know, killing them with kindness could be just what’s needed to set the needle in a fresh groove and get you dancing to a fresh new tune. (It’s been known to happen!)

If you’ve spent years moaning to your friends about your family, be careful that the problem is not actually you.

Take the first step towards loving them unconditionally. It might just be the best Christmas present you can give them – and yourself.

Your standby mantra to get you through it: ‘It’s just ___ day/s out of my entire life. I can do this.’

Disclaimer: Some of these strategies require serious levels of zen-like enlightenment. We certainly can’t do all of them all of the time. Choose a couple that resonate with you, give them a whirl and see what happens…

How do you avoid family friction? Share your tactics in the comments box. Please also use the social share buttons to tweet, like and pin!

Here’s a gift for YOU this holiday season – a two-page MY DREAM DECEMBER worksheet! Fill in the blanks and get real clarity over how you want to feel and be (and what needs to get done) this month so you can have your BEST December yet. Jump onto my newsletter list as I send this out to all of lovely subscribers every year!

photo credit: Justin Beckley via photopin cc

The post 6 Strategies For Handling Festive Family Friction appeared first on Project Me.

A Peek Under My Online Hood

Kelly Pietrangeli — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 10:17:29 GMT

When I was first creating my online business, I was incredibly grateful when others openly shared tools that would help me to run everything more smoothly.

Now I’d like to pay it back by giving you a peek under my online hood. Here’s what I use for website hosting, word processing, social media scheduling, content organising and so much more. I wish I could say that I absolutely love everything I use, but in some cases I don’t and I’ll explain why.

Before I dive in, I want to give huge credit to Marie Forleo for the inspiration to turn Project Me into a business in the first place. With only the seed of an idea, I went into her online programme ‘B-School’ knowing nothing and came out 8 weeks later with everything I needed to turn myprojectme.com into my dream career. Not only did B-School teach me how to set up my business then and authentically promote Project Me to reach my amazing audience (that’s you!), but the community of other B-Schoolers gave me an incredible global network of ongoing support and inspiration. I’ve always felt a part of something really special and never feel alone in my business.

WordPress

My website is self-hosted at wordpress.org so that I don’t have ‘wordpress.com’ at the end of my site’s web address. This means I also needed to buy a domain name (myprojectme.com) and use a web hosting service. Back in 2013, Go Daddy was the company to use for web hosting and domain names and for years I was happy with them, but I’m now looking to change. They are constantly ringing me to upgrade for one reason or another and in doing so they also manage to upsell me into extending my contract for the hosting and domain name. During one of the upgrades they sold me on, my entire site went down during a really important launch and I’m not happy with how they handled it all. The B-School community are my go-to resource so when my existing contract runs out, I’ll be heading there for the latest recommendations as things are always changing.

Had Squarespace been around when I was creating my website, I would have seriously considered this option over WordPress. For one monthly fee I wouldn’t have needed to hire a web designer and could have launched it much faster. I also wouldn’t have so many hassles with broken WordPress plug-ins, backups and maintenance over the years. Do explore both options before making a decision.

Google Drive & G Suite

I had a tip-off about Google Drive right from the start and I happily use this instead of Microsoft Word for all of my word processing needs. It saves my writing automatically so I never have to worry about losing anything and I love how I can share documents with others for them to either view or edit, always confident that it’s the latest version. Everything auto-saves to the Cloud so I never have to download files onto my computer or worry I’ll lose anything. I wrote my entire book as Google Documents and created subfolders for each chapter so I could have the tabs open and toggle between them easily. It memorises and auto-corrects my typical spelling mistakes and documents can be converted into PDFs or Word if required. I also use Google Forms to create surveys and questionnaires for my readers and clients and it puts the results into graphs and pie charts.

I’ve now upgraded from free Google Drive over to Google Suite so I can also use their business email service including multiple professional email addresses and the ability to store files in the cloud.

Aweber

When I was first starting my mailing list there were really only two options, MailChimp and Aweber. Many of my B-School buddies advised starting out with the free version of MailChimp and then migrating over to Aweber once my list size grew beyond 2,000 subscribers. My ambitious brain knew I’d reach that 2,000 number quickly, so why bother with having to change things over? I started with Aweber straight away and within six months my list was indeed over 2,000. (Again, I credit B-School!)

I don’t love the Aweber interface and it’s taken me ages to create a template I like, but I see that they now offer a service to help with that. On the positive side, Aweber’s customer service is second to none and I always get any support I need quickly. There are many other options out there now, but most of them are far beyond what anyone needs when they’re starting out and can be a real headache to learn.

Co-Schedule

I’ve tried several social media scheduling options and finally found Co-Schedule. I love the calendar view that lets me schedule posts into Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest and then drag and drop them around the month. I still add personal posts on-the-fly, but pre-scheduling means there are always at least two posts a day without me having to think about it constantly. I repurpose older blog content, promote my book and Project WE membership club, add inspirational memes and quotes. What Co-Schedule doesn’t do is auto-post to Instagram. Once you set up the IG post in Co-Schedule it holds it there until a date and time you specify, then sends you a notification. As this can be inconvenient, I now sometimes create pre-scheduled Instagram posts using the free version of ‘Later’.

Zoom

I use Zoom video conferencing weekly, if not daily, in my business. All of my Project WE monthly workshops take place via Zoom. Members are sent a link to join and can watch and participate live. Thanks to Zoom breakout rooms, I can put members into small groups or pairs to work together on the exercises. Zoom records the workshop and I send everyone a replay link the following day. I also use Zoom to record my expert interviews and the Project WE Virtual Book Club takes place there too. My monthly Power Posse meetups often take place on Zoom when we can’t get together in person. We like it so much better than Skype or Google Hangouts.

Schedule Once

I use ScheduleOnce as my online booking tool. When someone wants to schedule time into my calendar, I send them my personal link, they choose from one of my available slots, and it gets added to my calendar and theirs, plus sends out reminders. I pay $5 a month and it saves a whole lot of emails flying back and forth or missed appointments.

Xero

For the first two years of my business I was using pen and paper to track my expenses and income and making a real mess out of it. Finally I wised up and moved over to an online accounting software called Xero. It’s connected to my PayPal and bank accounts so that all transactions in or out are tracked and categorised. It makes it all so much easier at tax time.

Trello*

I use the free Trello desktop app to organise not only my business, but my entire life! It holds my master to do-do list on one easy-to-view board with a drag and drop feature so I can move tasks around like post-it notes (without the mess of having them stuck to my wall). The phone app means I can access and add to tasks and projects on-the-go. I use Trello boards for organising my content calendar for blogs, newsletters and social media, mapping out projects, outlining my book, and collaborating with my VA (Virtual Assistant). The possibilities are endless and I don’t know how I’d run my business without it.

Evernote & Evernote Webclipper*

Evernote is an extension of my brain and I’ve been using it for many years as a kind of digital filing cabinet which has eliminated the endless paper trail that used to be the bane of my existence. Thanks to the Evernote Webclipper extension, I no longer bookmark websites and instead save them into neat folders so I can access them at the touch of a finger.

You can use the free version of Evernote and if you ever reach your maximum allowance of storage space per month, you can move over to the paid Premium version like I’ve done. They give you a referral code so you earn credit which can make your own subscription free.

Canva*

I use Canva for whipping up graphics for everything in my business. It’s perfect for creating social media memes, blog post images (like the one you see at the top of this post), newsletter banners, PDF worksheets, flyers, business cards, invoices… pretty much everything! I used the free version for years before upgrading to Canva Pro which gives me my brand fonts and colours, logos and images all in neat folders.

*Note: I’ve produced easy to follow training videos for how to use Trello, Evernote and Canva. These all come included in Project WE membership.

These are the practical tools I use to run my business. I’ve learned that there’s much more beyond the nuts and bolts technology when it comes to running a business that feels heart-centred, light and free. When we get into alignment before action each day, there’s a lot less pushing and striving and a beautiful sense of flow and ease. I teach this in my High Vibe Journey programme!

In the comments below, let me know if you’re using any of these tools or share any that you can’t live without.

Positively yours,

Some of the other links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission or extra time on my own subscriptions. Keep in mind that I wrote this post to genuinely share my tools and resources and not because of ant potential commissions I may receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.

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Annabel’s High Vibe Journey

Kelly Pietrangeli — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 10:11:12 GMT

Annabel said she wanted other women to know what the High Vibe Journey programme is about, so with her permission, I’ve published her inspiring story here:

In all honesty, I didn’t fully understand the concepts Kelly talked about on the sales page for her High Vibe Journey programme. What does ‘raising my vibes’ or ‘strengthening my intuition’ or getting into ‘alignment before action’ actually mean? But I figured a course to help me stay positive and upbeat sounded attractive and it was an accessible price point, so I went for it. Little did I know what I was going to discover about myself in the next four weeks!

What I learnt on the High Vibe Journey has made all the pieces of the jigsaw from every course, book and podcast fall into place. I feel whole and I’m able to see myself, my place in the world and those around me clearly. I feel centred, I’m better able to understand myself and my needs. It’s been entirely surprising and possibly one of the most revelatory and incredible things I’ve done for myself.

If you’re not entirely sure what this course entails, here’s a little snap shot of of my own High Vibe Journey:

It used to take a lot to get me out of bed in the mornings, but already in week one, I was waking up earlier because I wanted to! And I’m still doing it because my high vibe morning practices are like lovely little treats for me. I’ve learnt how to meditate (taa daaa pretty magical in itself!) For me, finally setting up an enticing and enjoyable morning routine was by itself worth doing the course for – but everyone gains something different from their own journey.

Kelly’s introduced many fun ideas to weave into our lives, no matter how busy we are. I got hooked on doTERRA essential oils which do their magic as I’m getting on with my day. They’ve also helped my husband with his hayfever and work wonders for calming the kids at bedtime (worth every penny there!). The self-care these oils afford me has quickly become a bit of a love affair.

I now have the tools to look after myself even if I only have one spare minute and of course lots more tricks up my sleeve should I have 10 minutes or the holy grail of an hour or more.

One of the loveliest things about this course is that Kelly sets up all these wonderful options so that you can pick and choose. It’s a bit like an incredible sweetie shop for women. She isn’t telling you what to do – she opens her arms wide and says dive in and find what works for YOU. It’s done with such a light touch and so much fun. Each week is fresh inspiration.

And if you’re thinking you’d never have time for all of this, the two weekly videos are actually really short – about 30-40 minutes in total. Watching them at the beginning of each week makes such a strong impact on how you think and act for the whole rest of the week.

The emotional work is fascinating. Kelly teaches you how to move from frustration or doubt for instance to a more positive emotion, how to detach from negative thoughts that aren’t working for you and turn them around. One of the real highlights for me was learning how to surrender. To identify when you feel like you’re paddling upstream (hell yeah, every day!) and let go of your to-do list (I was fixated on trying to get through it in some form or another so I could get some peace) but I’ve realised it’s NEVER going to be done. Instead you learn how to tap into what you’re feeling drawn to that day and to go with the flow (don’t worry, I hadn’t a clue what this meant either, but Kelly will show you) and amazingly I somehow got more done without the pressure.

Thanks to me feeling more relaxed, connected and chilled, the whole rest of my family is too. I’m much more compassionate with myself and I’m now fully signed up to self-care. I’ve thrown guilt out the window!

I’ve experienced joy and contentment in spades since starting this High Vibe Journey. I won’t go on and spoil all the wonderful treats in store for you, but if this calls to you, you’re in for a little slice of magic, on this crazy, wild and wonderful journey.

It’s been an absolute joy Kelly – I can’t thank you enough. So much love, Annabel xxx

What an incredible email to open up yesterday. Thank you Annabel, it’s been such a joy to be your guide on your High Vibe Journey.

You can read more testimonials from other women who have done the HVJ here.

Come and find out more about the High Vibe Journey!

Head here for all of the details + a little intuition test to see what you’re Higher Self has to say about you joining.

Positively yours,

The post Annabel’s High Vibe Journey appeared first on Project Me.

How to Make A Good-Vibes Vision Board

Kelly Pietrangeli — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 10:11:33 GMT

I’m a huge fan of Vision Boarding and love having a visual reference for my deepest intentions and biggest dreams.

Way back in 2012, my kids and I created a giant Family Vision Board. Since then, many of our adventures and personal wishes have come to life. For example, my eldest son is fulfilling his dreams by being a house-music DJ while studying at university, travelling in his spare time, and being in a loving relationship with his wonderful girlfriend – all of which he glued to his Vision Board back when when he was only 12.

That same Vision Board was where I planted the seed for my book idea – which manifested into a book publishing deal and creating my dream business around the concept of Project Me.

I now create a fresh Vision Board for each year. It’s great motivation to carve out essential Me Time to realign with my intentions and ask myself what I want out the year ahead.

My annual Vision Board Workshop brings women together to motivate them to actually make their Vision Board! (Too often we say we’re going to do something, but never actually get around to doing it. Sound familiar?) Sharing your Vision Board with others gives it extra power. Here’s a glimpse into my 2018 Vision Board Workshop.

**Time sensitive announcement: I’m hosting my annual Vision Board Workshop ONLINE now so you can join in from wherever in the world to share your Vision Board with me and the group! This live workshop takes place every February. More information at the end of this post.**

Before I dive into how to make your Vision Board, let’s look at the why behind it.

3 Reasons Why Vision Boards Work

Clarity is power!

When your thoughts are a jumbled mess and you’re not even sure of exactly what you want, how are you going to get it? By taking the time to clarify what you want and why you want it, you’re setting the wheels in motion. Every time you look at your Vision Board you’ll have an instant visual reminder so you stay focused. Even when you’re feeling down, you’ll be able to reconnect with feelings of excitement and self-belief – which is where reason #2 comes in…

The Law of Vibration

Gazing at your beautiful Vision Board and thinking good-feeling thoughts creates a positive vibrational energy. You attract back to you whatever you’re giving off – so allow yourself to bask in the feeling of positive expectation. Everything you want is ultimately about the way it will make you feel. So how will you feel when you’re on that holiday, have started your business or written your book? Smile and feel appreciation in advance for everything on your board. When you do this, you’ll be amazed at how signs and opportunities ‘magically’ present themselves and people show up to help you – if you’re paying attention. Don’t write these off as coincidences as they are gifts to guide you towards your desires.

Inspired Action

Creating a Vision Board also inspires you to be proactive. Now that you can see what you want, and feel excited about what’s to come, an extra surge of motivation will arise. You’ll begin to take small-step actions that you might not have thought about (or may have procrastinated on) before. The more juiced-up you feel about what’s on your board, the more eager you’ll be to get moving. This builds momentum and you’ll create an effortless flow that inspires you to keep going.

How to Make A Good-Vibes Vision Board

Gather up a variety of magazines. (*Or search online.)

You’ll be looking for pictures, words and quotations that represent your goals and dreams and how you most want to feel in your life. Remember, you want to give off good-vibes when you look at your Vision Board so you will attract it to you like a magnet.

My favourites are inspired living magazines like Psychologies, Oprah, Breathe and Yoga Journal because they’re filled with positive images and inspiring words. Health and wellbeing, home decor, and travel magazines are great too. Ask your hairdresser if they’ve got old issues you can take away. Celebrity gossip magazines won’t really work for this.

Update: this year instead of magazines, I used the search function in Pinterest to type in words representing how I want to feel and came up with powerful words and images that I feel really aligned with! Sometimes trolling through magazines leads you to cut out things you think you should want, rather than listening to your own inner voice.

Decide the size of your board.

Where might you hang your Vision Board so you see it? This will help you decide which size to make it. If you feel self-conscious about others seeing it, consider the inside of your wardrobe/closet door or another cabinet you open daily. (I’m a huge believer in openly sharing your board. I do a whole presentation to my family every year!)

Mine is size A2 160g white card. This makes it lights and easy for me to hang on a bulletin board right next to my desk where I see it every day. It also means I can roll up last year’s Vision Board and store it easily. (This is in huge contrast to the gigantic Family Vision Board we made in 2012. The bummer was, when we moved house I had to cut it into pieces. But I took plenty of photos of it first.)

Use the Project Me Life Wheel® to reflect on your 8 Key Life Areas. Download it for free by clicking HERE or at the end of this post.

What would help you to enjoy the journey this year? Would you like to read or meditate more? Be a calmer, more patient parent? Eat healthier or up your fitness game? Travel somewhere new? Start or grow your business? Are there any community, charity or giving back projects you’d like to get involved in? The Project Me Life Wheel® is a great tool for inspiration. How do you want to feel in each area of your life? For each goal or intention, ask yourself, ‘Why do I want this? How will this make me feel?’

Prepare your space.

Board, glue-stick, scissors, magazines are all you need – stickers and coloured ink pens if you’re feeling extra creative. If you have the luxury of a big table to spread out on (and nobody to interrupt your creative flow) all the better! Get cozy if you can. I like to diffuse essential oils and play uplifting chill-out music. I recommend this 8 minute Amplify Your Goals Meditation in the Insight Timer Meditation app to raise your feel-good vibes before you get started.

Cut first, glue later.

Cut freely without overthinking it. Glue things down once you’ve gone through all of your magazines. It’s okay to leave blank spaces to fill in with future inspiration. If you couldn’t find images or words that represent some of the things or feelings you desire on your board, go to Google images and search for them. Be sure to include your Word of The Year.

Have fun!

Drop perfection or any feelings that you might not be doing it ‘right’. Everyone has their own unique style in creating their Vision Board and you don’t have to be artsy or creative beyond cutting and gluing. The most important part of all of this is to be feelings-led. Focus on the feelings that the images evoke for you as this is what you’ll feel when you gaze (daily) at your finished board. Even if something seems a million miles out of reach right now, allow yourself to feel hopeful and eager. Notice any self-limiting beliefs that might try tell you it’s not possible. If you can dream it, you can have it!

Here’s my previous Vision Board. Note that my board has evolved into one with less material things on it because I’ve already manifested those previously. I have my fabulous living environment, dream career, deep loving relationship, beautiful family, vibrant health, a published book… Now I focus more on how I want to feel and be in all areas of my life so that it continues to flow smoothly. As living a well balanced life is one of my biggest values, I include images and words to represent each life area on the Project Me Life Wheel®.

**I’ll be making my new board soon so I can share it in my online Vision Board Workshop in February. Come and share yours too! It comes included in Project WE membership. Even if you only join Project WE for a trial month you’ll get incredible value with this workshop – and so much more for only $19. My in-person workshops are normally $70. I would LOVE to see your finished creation and support you to see them come to life. Click HERE for full Project WE details.**

I hope you’re feeling inspired to create your own good-vibes Vision Board. In the comments below please share if you’ve ever made a Vision Board, or is this new to you? I’ll love to hear from you.

May your dream visions become your reality this year and beyond! Share your Vision Board on social media and tag @kellyprojectme #projectme

The post How to Make A Good-Vibes Vision Board appeared first on Project Me.

Choose Your Word Of The Year

Kelly Pietrangeli — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 11:38:32 GMT

In January 2021, this post was turned into a podcast. Listen to me share the story of how choosing an annual word of the year since 2013 has profoundly changed my life. (And how to use the Sway Test to tap into your intuition if you’re not sure which word to choose.) Listen to episode 14 of the Project Me Podcast.

If you could choose one word to sum up an intention you have for the year ahead, what would it be?

Maybe it’s a word that describes how you want to feel? Or something you wish to accomplish? Perhaps it’s a value you want to hold true to?

I’ve been choosing an annual Word of the Year since 2013 and I believe it helps plant a seed of intention that goes on to make a positive difference to my life.

I turn my word of the year into a graphic and use it as the lock screen image on my phone – which means I see it many times a day.

I’ve been adding my Word of the Year to this blog post every year and have updated it again for 2020, along with the images:

In 2013 I decided my word needed to be Simplify.

I recognised that I was over-complicating my life too often. I wanted to learn to how to KISS – ‘Keep It Simple Sista!’

By reminding myself over and over to keep things simple, I actually began to. That year I proved to myself that dropping perfection and taking the easy option was good for my state of mind. After a while, I felt noticeably liberated and free and this has continued to stick with me, several years later.

In 2014 I chose the word Connected.

I felt too connected to my iPhone and social media and wanted to disconnect from technology more and re-connect with whomever I’m with – including myself!

This ended up being the year I ignited my simple morning practice of waking up 20 minutes before the kids and spending time connecting to myself and the Universe by meditating and journal writing. I now wake up 30 minutes before the kids, which would have been unthinkable a couple of years ago when I was still telling the, ‘I’m not a morning person’ story.

My word of the year for 2015 was Balance.

My choice kind of surprised me at first. I mean, I’m the Queen of Balance and the whole premise of Project Me is based on the Project Me Life Wheel® and keeping a happy balance!

But I’d become aware that I was getting a tad work obsessed. The ‘Work’ petal on my Life Wheel was beginning to tip me in one direction and even though that wasn’t causing me any major problems yet, I knew all too well that the potential was there.

So with Balance as my new guiding word of the year, I began to pay more attention to this. It made me realise how often I was working through lunch and also listening to online business-related podcasts even at the gym or during my downtime.

It inspired me to start a new lunch break ritual of eating away from my desk – screen free. I deliberately made a practice out of reconnecting with my kids over a snack after school. And stopping what I was doing to physically connect with my husband for a kiss or a hug a lot more often. It was a great word to choose and set me up with some healthy, long-lasting habits.

In 2016 my word was Flow.

It came to me during my morning meditation. I knew I wanted to push less and flow more, to feel guided by my intuition and by the Universe. Be less in my head and more in my heart – feeling what I could be doing rather than over thinking things.

It also meant letting things go and being more easy-going.

Go with the flow! Everything I want lives downstream, not upstream. Once I’m clear about what I want, I just need to let go, allow and flow towards what I desire. Doesn’t that sound nice?

Vinyasa Flow is also one of my very favourite types of yoga. I love how free-flowing and natural the movements are.

This picture beautifully captures my visual interpretation of how I want my life to flow downstream.

My word of the year for 2017 started off as Intuition but that soon morphed into more of a theme when I made this into my phone screen image:

Throughout 2017 I discovered more about energy and how to raise my vibrational frequency to connect to the Universe and Source Energy. I began to tune into my emotions more than ever and use them as an indicator of whether or not I was in vibrational alignment. My previous word of Flow became easier for me once I understood that all I need to do is be aware of how I’m feeling. And if I’m not feeling good, I’m not in flow and so the best thing I can do in that moment is stop pushing and striving and do anything that makes me feel good.

My word of the year for 2018 was Open.

Open-minded, open-hearted, open to new possibilities and opportunities. Open to learning, open to experiencing. Opening my heart-chakra to give and receive love without fear of hurt or vulnerability . Opening my throat chakra and letting my authentic voice be heard. A wide open sense of eager anticipation for what’s to come. I’m so in love with my life that all I can be right now is open to receiving even more. I’ve experienced how living in vibrational connection to the Universe makes me feel guided and switched on and ALIVE and I entered 2018 with so much OPENNESS which lasted the whole year long and brought me wonderful opportunities and experiences. I loved having this as my phone lock screen all year:

My word of the year for 2019 was Vitality.

I chose this word because I’m prone to being a real winter hermit and often spend full days working in ‘my box’. (What I call my small home office.) 2019 was the year I instigated a healthy new #FlowFriday routine of going to the gym, then not heading straight back to the box! I hung out at an amazing private members’ club, wrote in my journal, read, socialised, ate yummy food and went with the flow. I proved to myself that I can get my work done in less time and reward myself with a wonderful #FlowFriday at the end of the work week. I shall continue this into 2020!

My word of the year for 2020 was

Creativity.

In 2019 I kept repeatedly seeing the number 34. I mean constantly! So I finally looked it up and it symbolises unfulfilled creativity that is wanting to come out. That really touched something deep within me. I realise that I’m in the habit of consuming more content than I create these days. I have so many creative ideas waiting for the ‘right’ time, including another book and a podcast and many draft blog posts and videos that are gathering dust. I know that when I’m in creative flow, I am in my highest vibration! So in 2020 I will answer that creative calling. This gorgeous goddess is my new muse, a full embodiment of unleashed creativity! She is my new lock-screen image:

And now my word for 2021 is… listen to episode 14 of the Project Me Podcast to find out.

Now what about you? Have a think about a word that describes how you want to feel or be this year. Ask yourself why you’re drawn to that word.

Once you’ve got your word, think what you can be doing more of (or less of) to live in alignment with your Word of the Year. Use the app WordSwag or Canva to create a beautiful graphic out of your Word of the Year, like the ones I’ve done above. Save it as your phone lock screen where you will see it many times a day.

I’d love to hear your Word of the Year and why you chose it in the comments below. (As this is a post I keep adding onto, maybe you’ll find your previous word in the comments if you left one!)

Want extra accountability for living true to your Word of the Year? Join Project WE the private online membership club for women with a growth-mindset who want to find a better balance in life, live with intention, and enjoy the journey. I’d love to get you know you there and support you with your dream visions.

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