I wrote that subject line for a reason. Did it get your attention?

You have probably heard that it is important to work smarter not harder and what I wrote above is the opposite. Why would I do that?

In today’s article I explain how our culture encourages working harder, faster and more, more, more (working harder not smarter). Unfortunately this mindset paradigm sets you up to feel overwhelmed and to burn out quickly. It couldn’t be further from helping you live a successful, productive and happy life.

Let’s look at how to step off the proverbial treadmill that society has manufactured so that you can create your own rules and a strong foundation to help you thrive.

To strategically work smarter than harder in today’s whirlwind culture it is critical to develop the ability to think clearly. This can be challenging when the barrage of life is flowing at you, constantly. That is, you become inundated with your to-dos, obligation, needs of other and the technological world that are all vying for your attention. And, you only have so much attention to go around.

So let’s look at how to go from cluttered, chaotic overload to clear & inspired living.

First of all, realize that when you begin to make space in your mind and life, things feel calmer, clearer and give you clarity to take control.  You might ask, “But, how do I do that when things are so piled up?” Good question! Here are a few tips…

Find the fun! When you put that to-do list aside and take a few moments, hours or days to just have fun, you are able to clearly assess the priorities in your life. Joy helps your mind, body and spirit feel alive and fulfilled. Your adrenals take a much-needed break and your happy hormones kick in. This allows you to have a fresh perspective and new insights that might be missed when you are gasping for air from under the pile of demands.  Make fun a priority!

Quiet your mind by starting an activity that doesn’t involve doing but instead being. Our culture promotes a lot of doing! Jump off that train and think of an activity you can do that will literally train your brain to take some time-out. Things like dancing, singing, meditating, riding a bike, drawing and yoga are all examples of focusing on Being in the moment. These types of activities allow your brain to be focused on the present instead of worrying about the past or future.

Begin to notice activities that you do on a regular basis that “suck your time”.  Are you on social media for more than 20 minutes in a day? Is this helping you create the life you hope to design? Keep a notepad with you for a day writing down 15 minute increments and jot down what you are doing during those periods of time. This eye-opening activity will give you insight into how the minutes of your day are really spent and if they are helping you live a successful, productive and happy life.

Clarity will help you get off the cultural treadmill that promotes working harder not smarter. Why set yourself up for overwhelm and burnout when you can move with ease and grace through your life.

It’s time to bring joy and fun into your experience so that you can create your own rules and strong foundation that will allow you to build the life of your dreams!

Happy Soaring!

XOXO

 

 

photo credit: empowered life fitness dot com

 

We recently asked the Home in Harmony community to take the Live Your Dream Quiz. My hope was to help you find clarity about where you are in your life and if you are moving any closer to fulfilling your dreams. (If you didn’t have a chance to take it, click here for your last chance and receive a $25 dollar Harmony Gift Certificate that you can use on upcoming Home in Harmony products!) The quiz also helped me to understand where you are in your home, life and business so that I can support you in designing your Big & Ideal Vision. In this week’s article I will share some insight into our findings.

I have mentioned before that I am a bit of a research girl. That’s probably why I loved Graduate School so much! Research began my journey to understand that there was and is a connection between your environment and the success you have in EVERY area of your life. Literally. EVERY area of your life! It can impact your health, wealth, relationships, peace of mind, ability to be productive, ability to find your passion and live your purpose.

So, with that being said, I loved looking over the Live Your Dream Quiz responses to analyze how to best help you live your dream life.

The good news is that almost 95% of the Home in Harmony community that took the quiz said they are committed to improving challenging areas of their life where they feel they need help. Yay! This is one of the 1^st steps to creating lasting change! That is, committing to an aspiration and taking the initial steps to achieve your goal. The other part of that is getting clear on your goal and acknowledging it is there.

Let’s take a quick look at a simple way to improving your life, family dynamics, weight, relationship, business & home …

Have you ever experienced the feeling of being unsettled, that you want more out of life or that you are not completely happy with your life, family, weight, relationship, business & home. Those feelings are the way your spirit is trying to communicate with you. At this point you have two choices. Either continue to do things the same way, wishfully hoping things will change. (However, this path will begin to wear on your mind, body and spirit because you are out of alignment with your soul’s guidance system.) The other option is to make changes in your life, family, weight, relationship, business & home. This will allow you to shift into alignment with your spirit and have inner and outer results that fill you up!

When you are out of alignment with your inner wisdom you may feel overwhelmed, tense or anxious. These are signs of your disharmony.  These uneasy feelings will leave you feeling unsatisfied and out-of-sync with your life, family, weight, relationship, business & home. Unfortunately they will also begin to get stronger and speak louder if you choose to ignore them and remain out of alignment. This isn’t fun!

It is like a bicycle with a wheel that is slightly bent. As the bike moves down the road, it moves farther and farther away from the center of the road making it more and more difficult to come back to center or alignment. It takes an increasing amount of energy from the biker to get it back on course.  The wheel also begins to get even more distorted which produces even more instability. This creates a greater amount of strain, energy and effort for the cyclist.  By balancing the wheel and creating alignment the cyclist creates conditions of ease, effortless flow and most importantly, fun!

The anxiety, apprehension & tension are your spirits way of nudging you to make a shift and connect to what will help you move along your path effortlessly, gracefully and with ample fun! Again, there are two paths to take at this juncture. One is to continue doing what doesn’t work. Or, the other path is to begin to get clear on what is the cause of your frustration, anxiety and overwhelm. These emotions leave you unsatisfied with your life and hold you back. Instead, take action to move out of disharmony and begin to gracefully flow with ease because you are in alignment and balance. This allows you walk the path of inner harmony instead of journeying along in discord.

When you read the story about the wheel, could you think of a situation in your life that feels out-of-balance?

Please Leave a comment on the blog. Your story could help someone else who is feeling out of alignment. I love hearing what you have to say!

Happy Soaring!

XOXO

 

 

P.S…If you want help figuring out why you are feeling out of alignment and how to get back to the path of ease, grace & fun, CLICK HERE and schedule your Success By Design Session today. Let me help you get back on course!

 

 

 

photo credit: sebulli dot com

 

 

I want to give you a quick, easy tip to help create harmony during the holidays…

Last week I had the privilege of being part of the Press at the largest women’s conference in the US.  The Massachusetts Conference for Women had 10,000 women gather together to discuss and learn about success, inspiration and motivation. There was one insight Shonda Rhimes shared that stood out to me… her simple tip is especially helpful during the holidays!

Shonda Rhimes, who is the writer and producer of many of TV’s mega-hits like Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice & Scandal, shared a Simple Solution that helps her find calm in the midst of her super, busy life!

Her solution… shutting off her email after 7pm and on weekends! Yes, you read that correctly!

This big time Hollywood writer/producer powers off to give herself a chance to take a break from the stressful responsibilities her role entails. When she initially began to implement this strategy it was challenging, so she created a simple way to let those around her know that she was creating a structure and boundary for her life. She accomplished this by including the following in the signature of her emails, “I don’t work after 7PM or on weekends”. This simple message clearly articulated her new parameters so that those around her know what to expect. This simple and straightforward technique allows her to “power down” and recharge at night and on weekends.

I love this idea! Turning the technology off gives you room to breath and relax in a world where it is often expected that we respond to family, friends or business obligations at all hours of the day.

Give yourself the gift of time and space this holiday season.

Happy Soaring!

XOXO

 

 

Image Credit: Marla Aufmuth for Getty Images

 

 

Are you feeling overwhelmed and stressed during the holidays? You’re not alone!

Surveys show that Christmas is now ranked #6 among the most stressful life events someone can experience! (Other stressors on the inventory include divorce, moving and changing jobs.)

In the spirit of harmony during the holidays let me give you 1 quick tip to help ease the stress and keep your equilibrium during the holiday frenzy.

You’ve heard me say that your environment impacts you on a conscious & unconscious level. You can actually use this to your advantage during the holidays! In this weeks article let’s look at 1 Simple Solution to have your home be a holiday haven during the harried season!

Is there an area in your home that gives you angst? Every time you walk by it you feel annoyed or frustrated.

Carve out 30 minutes in the next few days to tackle the untidiness, which will tame your tension.

The amazing thing is, by carving out time to clear the clutter you will create a sense of confidence and inner calm that will rejuvenate you! Trust me, you will feel an instant energy boost. This Insta-energy is your unconscious mind feeling lighter from the cumbersome burden that was lifted from clearing a physical area that also consumes space in your brain. The bonus is you get to feel good and you confidence increases because you accomplished a small task.

I know it might seem crazy to add one more thing to your to-do… but, and this is a BIG BUT, it will honestly make you feel good on a conscious and unconscious level. This will help to tame the tension and allow you to stay grounded during what can be a stressful season.

Do you have any tension taming tips during the holidays that you would like to share with the Home in Harmony community! As always, we would love to hear from you! Your tip might make a big difference for someone feeling out-of-harmony during the holidays.

Happy Soaring!

XOXO

 

 

Image Credit: Toledoblaze dot com

 

I wanted to send a quick note today because I wanted to share 2 quick tips for harmony during the holiday! I am currently only able to type with one hand because of a sporting injury that sprained my wrist, so I will make it easy & effective. Let me give you two Simple Solutions that will help you create inner holiday harmony.

We’ve all heard that intentions, affirmations or mantras can help you with mindset issues or thought patterns. I believe you can utilize this concept in your environment as well.  In this week’s article I will explain!

For all of our community celebrating the Thanksgiving Holiday, I want to personally wish you a harmonious holiday! I also want to send a heartfelt thank you to YOU for being you and wish you an abundance of blessings!

I love the fact that you can use your environment to direct your mind to begin creating the ideal vision of your life. If you are hoping to have a harmonious holiday than set your environment up for success instead of distress!

Your external environment gives you cues that you react to as you move through your home or office space.  Observe what reactions your environment is triggering you to feel emotionally & physically.

Begin to notice if there are stressors that add anxiety to your life and begin to eliminate those things or items from your space. Even be mindful when you walk into other people’s homes or workspaces! How do these places & spaces make you feel? Consciously being aware will help you manage your reactions. Maybe it is an environment or item in the environment that is making you uncomfortable or anxious. For example, I recently stayed in a hotel room in NYC and the main piece of art had mixed messages. They were positive & negative memorable headlines that were featured in the New York Times over the years. (The picture is posted above.) As you can see, it isn’t the most calming piece of art to have in a bedroom and there are many messages that could trigger someone to feel anxiety. Begin to look around your home and see if there are items that might be triggering your emotional state.

Next, add something to your environment that will help you connect to whatever emotion you are hoping to feel this holiday. Do you want to feel calm in the midst of family chaos? Perhaps peace and gratitude? What could you include in your environment that will help remind you to take a deep breath despite any upheaval? It can be as simple as putting a sticky note saying, “Breathe, You’ve got this!” Place this in a kitchen drawer that you will open regularly throughout your day to remind yourself to tap into that feeling that you can breathe through this with ease & grace and that you have the strength to get through anything! Take a minute right now to decide what messages would most support you during the holidays. Now, create or find something that will help to connect you to that feeling.

Once you’ve had a chance to decide what would most support you this holiday season, I would love to hear from you!  Share your inspiration in the comments below! Did you have an idea how to include it in your environment? Share that too! I really believe that “it takes a village” to do anything from raising kids to helping create a Home in Harmony. Your comment could help someone who is feeling just like you!

Happy Soaring!

XOXO

 

 

PS…What is your next best step? Are you looking at life and wondering what is next? Do you want to feel excited to start each new day? Do you feel like you have a business or book in you? What if I told you I could help you? I have walked the path and laid the foundation! I know exactly what to do. I can show you exactly what I did to create the business, book and life that inspires and fulfills me every day!  Click here to see if this is the next step for you!