What type of obstacle are you facing?

It’s summertime, and it sure is hot! I’m sooo grateful to have access to a pool. We love to go nearly everyday. It gives the kids a chance to work on their swimming and me a chance to work on my tan!

We were hanging out at the pool the other day, I was soaking up the sun on a green lounge chair. Kyah had hers situated only a few inches from me. Aaliyah came toddling over with her pink swim diaper and overlapping buddah belly and her green floaties (which she swims around the pool with all by herself).

She tried to squeeze in the small space between my chair and Kyah’s. She was managing fine, but then there was an obstacle in her way, that came up past her knees. She tried with all of her might to raise her leg up over it, however, she just couldn’t quite make it.

I looked down to see how I could help and realized that her ‘obstacle’ was a pink floatie- something so light and airy that she could have easily kicked it out of her way with her adorable little foot. Yet here she was straining to go over the top of it.

I easily related this incident to life. We encounter all types of obstacles in our lives. Sometimes we need to go around them, through them or over them.

Yet do we correctly categorize the type of obstacle that we are facing before we begin making herculean efforts to conquer them? Perhaps some problem we’re facing might seem difficult to surmount. It may be possible that if we approach it from a different angle, it could be easily kicked out the way, like a floatie!

Sometimes I think we magnify the size of our problems and make the proverbial “mountains out of mole hills.”

I know I do, when my children are all crying at the same time and all want something from me, and the phone is ringing and I have a million things on my ‘to do’ list, and I’m hungry and tired and feel like I’m about to go ‘crazy’- it’s only because I’ve lost perspective.

I’m trying to climb over this huge floatie, when really I can easily kick it out of the way, as soon as I make the decision to do so.

I’m going to improvise on Mark Twain a little and say, “I’ve had a lot of problems in my life, most of which never happened.” Too often we make up problems for ourselves, simply by having the wrong view of things.

Over-Achiever

Well, I really wanted to do book reviews on this site- a ‘report’ on every book I read, but I must say that idea was biting off a bit more than I can chew right now.

I have been reading- my new aim is a book a day (which I’m not doing, but that’s what I’m working up to). So far I’ve finished three books since I made that goal last week.

The result? I’m getting lots of great input, and I love it- but there’s no way I can keep up on doing a book review of every book (especially since I couldn’t keep up with it before).

So I figure the next best thing I can do is to share what books I have read, and then give a ‘rating’ on how well I liked them.

This week I finished:

The Lectures on Faith by Joseph Smith

- A very excellent book on using the power of faith. It correlates very well with the Law of Attraction.

Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins

- This book took me awhile because it has so much in it- a lot of action steps, reflection and commitments to make. I absolutely loved it! One of the books that has changed my life forever. He scientifically explains why we do what we do, and how to change instantly! A must read for anyone and everyone!

Cash Machine For Life by Loral Langemeier

- I really like Loral Langemeier, she is one of my mentors. A great businesswomen and example for women who want to create wealth. I personally liked her other book better, The Millionaire Maker, but I still got some good ideas and strategies for creating and building a Cash Machine. I still need to read her Wealth Cycle Investing.

I’m currently in the process of reading:

Is the “F Word” Really So Bad?

By Cynthia Morris

Oh, those dreaded ‘F’ words. ‘Finish’, along with ‘focus’ and ‘follow through’ are words that make creative types cringe.

Focus? Why? Living in the land of possibility is so much fun! I have so many great ideas, it’s really impossible to focus on only one.

Follow through? Groan. It’s much easier to entertain new and energizing ideas! I can’t get organized enough to follow through on project ideas.

Finish? Death! If I finish something, then I have to face the reality of whether it’s any good or not – will anyone want my work?

If you’re familiar with these obstacles to completing projects, you’re probably less familiar with the boons on the other side of the finish line. Deep satisfaction, pride, recognition, and yes, possibly cash money await you if you can bring your creative baby to completion.

Quit being a cringer and become a finisher. Here are the five essential steps to carry your brilliant ideas all the way home.

One: Identify Your Motivation

Start becoming a great finisher by doing some soul-searching. In a notebook or computer file, write out an answer to this question:

What is important about becoming someone who finishes?

Understanding your unique motivation for staying through the entire process is an essential piece of the puzzle. Get clear on what’s important about finishing.

You may come back and add more as your motivation becomes more apparent to you. You may craft that motivation into one sentence that you keep nearby when you’re creating. A single affirmation or reminder of your commitment can do a lot toward achieving the finishing line. Develop your own version of the Little Red Engine’s mantra: “I think I can, I think I can!”

Two: Commit to a Project

You most likely have a number of projects in various stages of completion. These ideas marinate in your mind, spoiling as you become overwhelmed and distracted by your creative inspiration. It becomes easier to let them fall to the side rather than make choices to commit to one project after another.

When you decide to be a completer, you need to choose where you will focus your time and energy. You will be tempted to work on several projects at once. This is fine, if you manage to follow through and finish at least some of them.

Three: Build Structure

External structures help you stay organized and focused. You will need to learn what works for you, but you’ll have to commit to structures like deadlines, timelines and accountability. Your inner saboteur will pipe in with notions like “I’m not a deadline person,” or “Lists don’t work for me.”

Take this is normal resistance that surfaces when you try something different. Sometimes creative people think they need to be free and flexible, but the truth is that structure allows creativity to flow. Creative people actually like structure, for it gives them the needed focus to bring their ideas into form.

Four: Stay on Track

Getting clear on your motivation, committing to a project and developing a plan of action are the first three crucial steps. Staying with your project to completion is critical to becoming a completer. As Molly Ivins wrote, you need to “dance with them that brought you.”

Don’t flirt with your other ideas once you’ve committed to go all the way with one. You’ll need to develop your creative stamina, hone your emotional intelligence, and stay connected to all the previous reminders about why you’re doing your project and what’s your payoff for finishing.

Five: Acknowledge and Celebrate Completion

This final step is often overlooked. After all that work, we skip the fun part! But it’s important to put this into the creative cycle. Too often, we rush to the next thing, overriding the need to acknowledge our efforts.

Before you pop the cork on the champagne bottle, take some time to acknowledge what it took to get here. Take the opportunity to learn about your creative style and what it takes to bring your projects to fruition. Acknowledging and celebrating will help you build confidence to complete future projects.

Embracing the ‘F’ Words

Most of us want to finish. The work required to finish is nothing compared to the real cringer when we think about all those once-wonderful projects that are now abandoned on the back burner, hidden in the bottom drawer, or lurking on the garage shelf, gathering dust and silently mocking us and our supposedly brilliant ideas.

Knowing the five steps is one thing. Taking them is another. Do yourself a favor: stop cringing and start finishing.

About the Author: Cynthia Morris helps creative people bring their brilliant ideas into form and has most recently finished her own e-book, Cross the Finish Line! Five Steps to Leaping Over the Hurdles to Completion.

Thanks for Harassing Me

“Exercise is good for your mind, body, and soul.”
Susie Michelle

My husband is what some would consider a health nut. He hasn’t eaten sugar or drank carbonation since he was sixteen. He absolutely loves to exercise- loves triathlons, mountain biking, and running up mountains just for fun.

We spoke on the phone for the first time over seven years ago (I had never seen him, but he spotted me at a young adult event and scouted out my phone number from a friend).

He called me up to ask me out for a date, and I remember one of the first questions he ever asked me was “Do you work out?’

At the time I remember being so flattered- I believed he was asking because he thought I looked so good. Though he did think I looked good, I found out later he asked because he was determined to only marry someone who loved to exercise as much as he did.

That was not me. I never exercised, and never wanted to. I never played any sports in high school, and I always tried to avoid any physical exertion in gym class.

Well he married me anyway. He said he had a ‘list’ of what he wanted in his perfect wife, and I met every standard except for exercise, so he decided to go for it (secretly planning on changing me so I would grow to like exercising).

“No matter who you are, no matter what you do, you absolutely, positively do have the power to change.” ~Bill Phillips~

We’ve been married now for just over seven years, and he’s been trying to convert me from the very beginning.

At first I would make paltry efforts at it, just to impress my new husband. I remember when we went hiking together, and I tried to race him running straight up a hill. I did well until I got to the top, then almost passed out. I think he was kind of embarrassed about it.

Another time we went to a family reunion in Colorado, and went hiking. My husband or course wanted to run up to the highest point. I tried to follow the best I could, running slowly behind. My uncle said of it later, “I think that’s the only time I’ve seen Rachel run, following behind her new husband.”

My husband did every thing he could think of to try and get me to exercise daily. He tried bribery, he tried educating me on the importance of it, he even threatened to tie me behind the bumper of the car (that was a joke).

Sometimes I had a poor attitude and outright rebelled, I thought, “Why does he keep harassing me about it so much? Why doesn’t he just leave me alone?”

Well, four children have come, and the weight has fluctuated a bit (understandably). I’ve never been ‘fat’ by most people’s definition. I’ve never been ‘fit’ either.

Exercise is done against one’s wishes and maintained only because the alternative is worse

This last year, I finally decided to try out exercise, and give a real effort to it. I don’t know what finally convinced me, or if Greg has just been slowly brainwashing me all these years and it eventually had it’s effects.

Maybe it was living in Costa Rica that just made me feel alive and want to run through the hills full of energy.

Whatever it was, I started exercising on a more consistent basis. Now, it hasn’t been every day, but I have done some type of exercise a few times every week.

Guess what? The results are amazing! The last couple of months, I’ve really pushed myself in running on my treadmill, and I’ve done things I never thought were possible for me.

I ran 5 miles straight for the first time ever in my life, and I ran three miles in 26:45! I realized the limits were all in my mind- I didn’t think I could do something like that. But it feels so empowering to overcome those limitations.

Besides that, my body has slimmed down even more. I never thought my rear end could be so small! My thighs don’t even touch any more, and I’m actually developing some muscle.

I ran into a friend the other day who I hadn’t seen for a couple of years. I was wearing a sweat outfit, had a hat on and no makeup. “Wow Rachel, you look so good!” was his sincere declaration.

Look so good? How? Why? Then I realized- it was the exercise. After four children and seven years of marriage, I still fit into my pre-marriage clothes. Yes I do look good. And it feels good.

“Fitness - if it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body.”  ~Cher

It has been hard- though some people think ‘You’re so lucky, you’re just naturally skinny’- but ‘fat’ for everyone is different.

Being over your ideal weight is fat. And it takes effort to lose it. And there is a difference between being smaller than someone else, and being fit. I may have been smaller than most people, but I wasn’t fit, by any definition of the word. That is where exercise changed all that.

I didn’t like it at first. I had a hard time getting started, then I had a hard time running more than 10 minutes. I had a hard time pushing myself to a point where I actually started sweating.

The same thing can be said of exercise that is said of reading; The more you do it, the better you become at it; the better you become at it, the more you like it; the more you like it, the healthier you become.

I have become healthier. I noticed the last time I went hiking with my family. I used to get tired and try and shorten the trip (because my husband could hike for hours).

This last time, I felt so energized, alive and more enjoyment than usual of the experience. And the benefits are more than physical. I think clearer, my mind is more active and creative, I have more self-discipline, I feel empowered.

I know I can do things I never thought were possible. My character has actually developed more through exercising.

“Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states.”
Carol Welch

I never understood before why my husband was so adamant about exercise. I couldn’t comprehend why he was so passionate about it, or why he continued to ‘harass’ me about doing it.

I know now that he only wanted to share with me something that had brought so many benefits to his life, that had helped to develop him into the person that he is today.

But as I woke up this morning in my fit, trim, energized and beautiful body, I just had to say, “Thanks Hon, for harassing me.”

Break Dancin’ Video

Here is Greg, Darin and I in a new break dancin’ video.

http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/view/0HdXAzkiSzP9U53HHwLj7k8B

Don’t send a lame eCard.
Try JibJab Sendables!

What is Motherhood?

Motherhood means:

  • Becoming a better person- developing more patience, temperance, tolerance and love- because otherwise you might just kill your children.
  • Learning to not cry (or yell or scream) over spilled milk- and peanut butter on the carpet, hand prints on the windows, lipstick on faces and crayon on the walls.
  • Becoming accustomed to smudges and stains on all your clothes; not expecting to have your nicest clothes look nice for very long; acquiescing to the snags in your $60 dress that you wear for Mother’s Day- because it represents what being a mother is about.
  • Accepting the fact that you will never have a completely clean house for any length of time- until your children move out- but then you’ll have grandchildren.
  • Developing the potential to not be shocked by most anything that might happen- because anything can happen (you just wonder where they come up with the ideas).
  • Not becoming too attached to anything because it might not be around for long- at least in the condition you prefer it to be in.
  • Not having a day off (at least not very often).
  • Wondering if there is some scientific process for transferring some of their energy to you.
  • Becoming comfortable discussing uncomfortable topics.
  • Flexibility.

Motherhood also means:

  • Having someone who is excited to see you every morning- so excited they come and wake you up!
  • A little hand that holds on to your finger with all it’s might because it trusts you implicitly
  • Moments of “Mommy, I love you more than the whole world!”
  • Bedtime kisses, cuddles and stories.
  • Laughter every day.
  • Big smiles, endless curiosity, wonder and amazement at life’s everyday miracles.
  • Realizing that your children love you so much that they copy everything that you do- and what a great responsibility this is.
  • Making sure that who you are is worth copying.
  • Having the opportunity to change the world, one child at a time.
  • Love.

Reading for a Better World

Read this post that I wrote on my new site, www.read-aloud.org. I’m still in the process of creating it.

The focus of Read-Aloud.org is to promote literacy (not the ability to read, but the desire and implementation of reading) in people worldwide, as well as providing books for people in impoverished nations who don’t have access to them.

Please let me know if you are interested in helping with this project, or if you have any ideas for promoting it.

Family Photo

We had a nice hike today in Little Cottonwood Canyon and took some family photos while we were there. It was a delightful outing! It’s so nice to spend time in the outdoors and enjoy the serenity of nature, especially when you do it with the family that you love. It ties you together.

I also was reminded of the times that my father took us hiking and camping when we were children. We loved to walk through the woods together and sing his Army marching songs “Momma, Momma can’t ya see….” What wonderful memories he planted in our hearts.

I lamented that I would not have the opportunity to discus with him as an adult his view on life, his philosophy, what motivated and inspired him.

The most important thing I suppose is that I knew what he believed by the way he lived. I know that spending time together as a family was important to him, as well as being in the beauty of nature, because he took us hiking. I know creating lasting memories was important to him, as well as reading and learning, improving and serving- because that is how he lived.

And that is how other’s will know me- by the way I live my life. Am I living it the way I would want to be remembered?

Which Money Cycle Are You In?

Even without winning the lottery, your chances of becoming a millionaire are a lot better than you think. In fact, if you have the desire and conviction to be wealthy, you have a better chance of generating and, more important, sustaining wealth than someone who has won the lottery.

You can take all the mystery out of wealth building. Anyone can take a prescriptive, step-by-step approach to eliminate financial hardship and build wealth of a million dollars or more. And I don’t mean just net worth; I mean cash flow- cold, hard cash in your pocket.

Wealthy people get to where they are not by chance, but by taking specific, tangible action. There is a very clear difference between the flow of money for most people, and the flow of money for someone who is wealthy. It looks something like this:

In the Least Cycle (because most people do it, but they end up with the least), wealth can never be created because all the money which comes in (through income), goes right back out to pay expenses- housing, food, credit card debt, consumer goods, etc. Even your home is a liability because it takes money out of your pocket every month, instead of putting money into your pocket. Compare it to the Cycle of the Wealthy:

In the Cycle of the Wealthy, a portion of the money which comes in (through income, which is usually a job when the process is started) goes to investing in assets (a definition of an asset is something that provides cash flow or capital). Those assets in turn produce more income, which goes back into building more assets, and thus creating more wealth.

Besides that, they structure their life to run like a business. They create entities (Corporations or LLCs) that they run all ‘business’ related expenses through before paying taxes, so it reduces their tax liability.

Creating wealth is as simple as deciding what Cycle you want to live in. If you live in the Least Cycle, you will never create wealth. If you live in the Cycle of the Wealthy, wealth is guaranteed.

That is why some people can make a lot of money, even a million a year, and still be broke. If they live in the Least Cycle, they are not wealthy. They’re still living paycheck to paycheck, albeit a very large paycheck, but they are not creating wealth.

The goal is to increase your income so that you can buy assets that will create more income, until this becomes a passive process and you create freedom to live as you want.

I Love Inspirational Pictures

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