we're in a relaionship

I hear and read a lot about building relationships in business.  It has become a catch phrase that represents the approach necessary to being successful in business or in any job.  It is something that was there all along but now we recognize it and have given it center stage in our efforts.  We seek to understand and connect with others so that we can help them, be of service to them.  We know that if we establish a relationship with those we meet we will benefit and grow with them, not just because of them.

Last night I had some friends over to my house for a jewelry party.  The two women who conducted the party were sisters and they presented numerous pieces of jewelry on mannequins that they had dressed in varying outfits to demonstrate the versatility and beauty of the jewelry.  The sisters had this rhythm between them that drew us in.  They were not glamorous or intimidatingly good looking.  They were just two women like us who used jewelry to look good, to feel pretty, and to augment their wardrobe.  Over the course of a couple of hours we got to know these women.  We shared food and talked while we tried on the jewelry, laughing and enjoying the "girls' dress-up event."  I learned a lot about mixing pieces of jewelry.  I learned even more about the power of relationships because these two women came into my home strangers but by the time they left I felt I knew them.

And that is the power of "relationshiping"in business and in life - getting to know others.  It's the going from "hello" to "I can't wait to hear from you."  It is the sharing of stories and experiences.  It is getting to that place of comfort and easy conversation where connection takes root and becomes something more.  Last night I fell in love with the jewelry, learned a lot, and chose pieces that I am excited about.  It was fun.  But it was the interaction with others and the experience that will bring me back to shop again.  They mentioned a spring line.  Can't wait!

the people we meet

One of my favorite things in this life is to meet new people.  I love the conversations and discovery.  I especially enjoy looking at the world through other people's eyes.  The perspective they offer often makes me reconsider my own views, opening me up to possibilities previously unconsidered.  How wonderful to find fresh ideas.  Today I met two new people.  At the end of my time with each of them I felt lifted.  The circle of my own life was broadened and reshaped by their having arrived.  And for that I was grateful.  Blessed.

Every day I have the opportunity to meet new people.  I love that as I get ready for my day what lies ahead is still largely veiled and unknown.  For all the planning I do, my interactions with people remain the element of surprise.  As we reach out to people through the internet and social media we take our cues from things they have written and posted on their websites, facebook, twitter, or elsewhere.  We have learned to interact using common tools, phrases, links, and visual and audio clips.  We live and function in this new realm where we converse, communicate, interact, do business, and build our community.  So often what someone has written or posted offers just what we need in the current moment.  Somedays it is the found phrase of another that inspires us, moves us to action, keeps us from giving up and allows us to find our way through to the next level of success we have been seeking.  It is that one person who seems to see us where we are and offers the hand of change, hope.

My goal is to be that person for someone on any given day.  I offer it from a grateful heart.  We are here on this planet in the wide universe to bless one another, to create the pathways, and to be a light.  Pay it forward.  There is always more.

A change in the weather

It's November 9th and the temperatures here in Phoenix finally dipped below 70 degrees - 69 to be exact.  Everyone was talking about how cold it was today.  People wore hats and coats and sweaters.  Now I know to my Canadian family and friends this sounds a little crazy.  But I've lived in Phoenix since 2003 so my thick Canadian blood thinned a long time ago.  And just so you know, I was not wearing a coat, hat, or even a sweater.   But I was delighted to feel the chill of November, be it ever so relative.  Because after months of living in air conditioning, fending off the 110 degrees outside, this was a day to celebrate.

All my life fall has been my favorite season.  The smell of macintosh apples, smoke from a chimney, a new woolen sweater, my leather book bag, maple leaves on the ground, are memories that take me back to my childhood in outport Newfoundland in autumn.  Of course, that was September.  Still today I found myself remembering those things and enjoying them once again, if only in my mind.  There was for me always a sense of new beginnings in the fall.  School, the promise of ideas, new books to read, stories to write, friends and adventures.  How lovely, that on this November day I was reawakened to that joyful anticipation because the cool air held a twinge of the crisp days of fall from long ago.

My life in this moment is filled with new beginnings.  I am learning to live my life as a single mom. I am meeting new people.  I am stepping out of my comfort zone to do things I have not dared before.  I am building a a business from home, a life long dream of mine.  These are new adventures, new joys.  And while I still have my moments of trepidation I wake each day with the certainty that I am on to something good.  Something wonderful.  A definite change in the weather.

May you blessed today!

www.ceowomenathome.com

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Do you have the time?

Who among us could not use more time?  We talk about time ~ all the time.  We say we don't have enough time, we are out of time, if only we had more time, time is running out.  We talk so much about time, not realizing we are wasting time talking about our lack of time. We say things like I would start a home-based business if I had the time.  I would exercise if I had the time.  I would get my masters, grow a garden, paint, quilt, run, read - all if I had the time.  We treat time like something we cannot afford, like something that costs too much for us to have it.  Yet time is always with us, we are always in it.  No matter what we are doing we are using time.  It's how we use time that matters.

I love the saying that what we focus on increases.  So if we focus on the lack of time, guess what?  We have a lack of time.  But if we focus on creating time to do the things that are important to us then we'll have more time.  It means not wasting time, squandering time, or letting time slip by.  When we take action to do things, suddenly time is our friend.  I can get a lot done in a short amount of time if I stay focused and work hard.  I can sometimes multi-task with vigor because I am energized to accomplish my tasks.  So often I can do more in an hour, because I am focused, than I may have done all day.

I work full time in a job outside my home but I also come home at the end of the day to work on my home-based business.  I schedule time for my business and stick to it.  I don't waste my time idly in front of the tv.  I choose to use my time wisely to create more of what I want in my life.  Dave Ramsey says that to be successful you have to "live like no one else so that later on you can live like no one else."  What you do with time today will determine what you can do with time later on.  That simple phrase of Ramsey's changed my view on what it takes to be successful in life, financially and otherwise.  You have got to do what it takes today, now, in this moment, in the time you are in, so that later you can use time the way you want to for other things in your life.

Face it, if you waste your time hoping you will win the lottery while you watch yet another tv show, come this time next year you will most likely still be doing the same thing.  And still complaining that you never have enough time.   How you spend your time now will always determine how you spend your time later on.  Take time, make time, create time.  It's up to you.


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Some days it all makes sense

I attended a Women's Leadership Conference today.  What a wonderful, successful day it was!  I was surrounded by women whose knowledge and experience affirmed for me that doing what you love in life, what you are passionate about, will lead you to fulfillment.  There was nothing exceptionally new being said but the message resonated with me in a new way and called me to action.  We talked a lot about facing our fears, not letting fears stop us, and believing in ourselves.  Following your passion, your bliss, carried throughout the conversations and presentations.  I was awake, fully awake, as I have not been for a long time, if ever, in my life.  All the self-help books, websites, magazines, blogs I have ever read came into clear focus as if someone drew aside a curtain and allowed me to look into my life for the first time.  In just a few hours I went from excuses and restraint to releasing my fears so that I can embrace my dreams.

I can't tell you that any one specific moment or phrase or person made this happen.  It was more that my affirmation at the beginning of the day for the right people and messages come into my life to reveal the direction I should take.  It happened with each person and conversation and presentation.  It was also that I was finally ready to hear the messages and to raise myself out of my place of self-doubt and worry.  You see, I have held a long list of "reasons" why things are not turning out as I desire.  I have an even longer list of "reasons" of why I should not do things.  But on this day, November 5th, 2010 I looked into the mirror to see the reflection of the one and only person who can change that version of my life - me.  And the fundamental truth that rang out like a bell calling me to my inner wisdom was that the fear of failure can only hold you back if you allow it.  Fear is simply something that resides in our minds and failure is nothing more than a lesson on the path to success; it can even be the reason for our success if we learn from it.

If today you are struggling with how to move forward in your life I understand how you feel.  I have been there.  It's my story too.  My advice is that you keep moving forward, one day, one step at a time.  Face your fears, stare them down.  Find mentors who believe in you.  Be uplifted by the shared experiences of those you know and those you meet.  Encouragement will show up when you need it and life will support you and give you courage - no matter what.  Simply lean into your passion and keep going.  It's worth it!