Well, Dr. Seuss and the half eaten jar of Nutella sitting next to my computer.

(I’m lying, it’s more like 3/4 eaten.)

Why am I blaming Dr. Seuss?  Because it was his birthday on March 2nd and I saw this quote of his that has been going crazy in my mind for a month or so and it was the kick in the butt to get these words out of my head and down onto the page.

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

Sound familiar?

I grew up on Dr. Seuss.  Absolutely loved his stuff even though I don’t think I really  understood the complexity of what he said until much later.  I guess as kids we’re not supposed to get too much further than red fish, blue fish.

Maybe some of us will even see the Lorax or the Giving Tree as something more…

Anyway, I’m procrastinating.  Why?

Because what I’m about to write could change your mind about me.

I’m on a journey of truth telling and truth finding.

That doesn’t sound too bad, right?

Not too scary at all, except for the quiet girl who always made sure that she said and did the right things.  She didn’t complain and always shared when she was asked to.  She was taught that it was better to give than it was to receive but most importantly, she was taught to be nice.  Even if nice meant that she wasn’t supposed to talk back or really even speak her mind.

It wasn’t the work of evil troll-like parents who did this, but two loving people who wanted nothing but the best.  It was the quiet girl who took it to the extreme and always played nice, even if it meant that she swallowed her own words.

Unfortunately, even nice, quiet girls grow up and sooner or later those nice, quiet girls can become doormats or even worse, the complete anti-thesis of who they were as children.

See- I like words, I’m still procrastinating.

My journey of truth is leading me to the doorway where I will make the decision to become the doormat or to become something else.

I chose- something else.

I choose truth as my path, not only as a human being but also in my work, in my relationships and in every single moment of every single day that I am alive on this Earth.

Why?

Because it’s time for me to tell you about the real ME.

It’s time for you to know the real person behind these words, the one hiding behind the computer screen- for now.

The one who is going to be speaking up and saying things that you may not want to hear or things that you desperately need to hear.

So who am I?

I am a woman who lives her truth every single day

I am a woman who loves beyond love and believes past rational thought.

I am a woman who is flawed but who loves those flaws more than anything else.

I am unique, a complete contradiction and someone who is more than just a little quirky.

I am painfully sensitive not to physical touch but to everything else.  I often feel your pain before you’re acutely aware of it.

I see the best in everyone regardless of whether or not I like you.  And yes, there are people who I don’t like.

I will never tell anyone that I don’t like them.  Ever.

I will not tolerate anyone telling me what to do- even if you know better- because I will not hear you.  I need to learn it for myself.

I am not going to apologize unless I really mean it.

I will stand up for myself and for you and if pushed, I will push back- hard.

I will hurt some people’s feelings but never intentionally.

I will be embracing the changes that occur in my lifetime not because I always want to but because I have to.

I will be completely honest, even painfully honest because me sugar coating anything helps no one.

I am no where near where I want to be or who I want to be, but I want you on my journey especially if you’re reading this.

I need you more than you probably realize because your truth helps me live mine so much more.

I will never tell you that I need you.

I need time alone.  A lot of time alone.

I will stay quiet because I need to protect myself.

I have faith beyond what seems reasonable but that’s what keeps me grounded.

I have angels who guide me every day, even if I never see them, hear them or feel them.

I have tattoos and piercings but they are part of who I am, so I will never apologize if they make you feel uncomfortable.

I dress for me and only me and sometimes I feel like make-up really is like war paint.

I take pride in my family, my heritage and in my accomplishments.

I won’t back down just to make you feel better about yourself.

I am painfully un-selfish, even to the point where it may hurt me.

I am in debt and not going to make any excuses about it.

I am constantly learning something & as I write this, am taking anywhere between 3-5 classes on my own time.

I don’t have enough time but only because I don’t use my time well.

I’ve written this dozens of times in my head and each time, it was different.

I’m being far nicer right now than I plan to be in the future.

I don’t usually make sense.

I’m scared of what I might become- but I mean that in a good way.

I don’t idolize anyone.

I cried hard last week.

I’ve eaten almost a whole jar of Nutella because it’s made me feel better.

I’d rather someone else cook for me right now because if I do it, I’ll eat crap.

I teach people how to eat and cook healthy food.

I contradict myself all the time.

I’ve been hurt a lot and have put up way too many walls for my own good.

My walls are crashing down around me and that scares the crap out of me.

I’ve found someone who never knew I had walls because he walked right through them.

He scares me sometimes but I know that I can’t live without him.

I’ve never told him that.

I used to weigh 40 pounds more than I do now and sometimes feel like things were almost easier when I weighed more.

I could very easily gain all that weight back but I won’t because then my pants wouldn’t fit me and I don’t want to have to buy new pants.

I’m addicted to twitter.

My body image was better when I was heavier.

I don’t laugh nearly as much as I want to. Or need to.

I really look forward to seeing my dog when I get home.

I pray every night before I go to bed.

I’m just scratching the surface on this.

Are you game for this journey of mine? Are you looking for your truth too?

Your Challenge, if you choose to Accept it!

Start working on your list of 7 food items to bring to your desert island.

If you want to take it a step further, then create the 2nd list that I described above.

How are your lists different?  How are they the same?

Did anything come up for you while you were trying to decide what to bring?

What I’d LOVE for you to do now is to be brave and leave your lists in the comment section below.

I’ll even share my list with you but I won’t be posting that until Friday.  Don’t want to give away my 7 goodies!

It’s a new video from Christina Hills.  (She is THE
person to go to if you want to get you website built
with WordPress).

And I cracked up when I saw it.

It’s the story of Alice in WordPress Land and how she
stumbled across a new. almost magical way of building
websites without that Mad-as-a-Hatter Webmaster.

Go watch the video of little Alice now…

http://snipurl.com/um53o

…and follow along as she discovers this magical place
called WordPress Land.

Let me know if you have any questions! I’ve working with Christina before and can tell you what you need to know! Straight from the horse’s mouth!

 
P.S. Here’s that web address again, just so you don’t have to look for it!

http://snipurl.com/um53o

Disclosure:

The link above is my affiliate link to Christina’s course.  I will ONLY endorse programs and products that I have personally used.  If you purchase through my link, I will be compensated for it.  Just so you know :  )

It’s everywhere.

We all try to ignore it because we know that if we don’t, we’ll get caught up in the whole fear mentality and it’s incredibly hard to get out of it.

Well I just went face to face with one of my fears.

I’m still standing but let’s face it, it can get pretty intense when you’re staring your fear in the face and your feet suddenly have stopped responding to your brain.

Your brain is busy screaming, “Get out of here, you idiot!  Why aren’t you listening to me?  What is WRONG with you?  We’re being attacked and need to run away!”

You get the adrenaline kicking in, your palms start to sweat and you wonder why your throat has all of a sudden gone dry.

Fear is a bitch, when you let it be.

Why do I add in- when you let it be?

Because fear can also be the most liberating experience in your life.

I came face to face with a huge fear of mine (2 actually) just a few days ago and I’m still standing.  I’m still alive and kicking and definitely better off in the long run for having my run-in’s.

Let me draw you a picture.

I am an entrepreneur.  I have so many loves, hobbies, past-times, jobs, expectations, ambitions and time/energy vampires.

I am being pulled in every single direction- of my own doing mind you- that I am not the most efficient person in the world.

Let me admit something very scary to you right now- my bank account reflects that 100%.

And when I have someone looking over my account statements because they HAVE to, I worry that they’re going to judge me.  I worry that I have to prove something to them and at that moment, my fear mechanism kicks in.

I could run away but it’s past time for me to face my fears.  For me to look them square in the face and say, “Okay, so you’re here.  What do you want?  I’m not letting you run my life.  I’m not letting you take me off of the course that I’ve chosen for my life.”

How does fear respond?

It doesn’t.

Because our fear lives only within us and when we give it power, that is the only time that it has a voice.

When we can face our fears, then it becomes silent.  We’ve taken all its power away.

This means that by completely acknowledging the things that I am most afraid of and then facing them, I am freeing myself of it.

This means that you can do it too.  You can even do it faster because someone has been paving the way for you.

How are you going to face your fears?  How are you going to stand up and look them in the eye?

There was a jungle theme as well as fuzzy stickers.  For every book you read, you got a sticker and if I remember correctly, a prize went to the top kids in the library.

Needless to say, I was not one of those kids but I took something away from that experience.

I could have “cheated” and read all the 15-30 pages books I could put my little hands on, get lots of stickers and, possibly, win.  OR I could have chosen books that I ready did want to read and get my stickers for that.

My honesty won out.  Sigh.

But this is a great lesson for all of us.

Why bother reading a book that will go quickly and painlessly if you don’t really want to read it?

Just spend your precious time- and I do mean PRECIOUS- to read a book you’ll actually get something out of.

Hence, my book reviews.

Let my nerdy bookworm side filter through all the current and not so current books that you might not have the time or willingness to read.

I’ll do the work for you!

Book Review #1: “A Whole New Mind- Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future” written by Daniel H. Pink

This book was recommended to me by a business mentor of mine who is, like many people I know, a conscious entrepreneur.

(Expect to be hearing that a lot more than you may be hearing now.)

By conscious I mean that she does business with her eyes open onto a broader spectrum, a more ethical path and ultimately more beneficial for all of our society.

It’s not just the “I want money and lots of it” business mindset.

So this book called out to her and me because it stresses the difference between traditional logical left brain thinking and artsy-fartsy right brain thinking.

Pink argues that we are in a very special time in our society’s evolution.  We have the means to get whatever we want- Abundance; we are outsourcing a lot of our repetitive, low skill tasks to countries like Asia that can do them not only faster but cheaper as well.  And we are relying so much more on computers to Automate tasks so that we work more efficiently.

Problems with the above are directed at Left brain oriented jobs.  Think of a job that can be done faster and cheaper by someone else.  Think of a job that can be automated by a machine.

This is where our future lies.  The only question is if you’re going to join in and figure out where your new role figures in OR how you’re going to get excessed out?

Pink outlines 6 different skills, along with tasks, exercises or assignments that will support your right brain growth and development.

My Take:

I loved this book.  I understand how I am calling a country on the other side of the world when I have a problem with my computer.  I see how I no longer get as much personal attention when jobs get sent off to computers or other machines.

I wanted to learn how I could protect myself because, let’s face it, I’m not about to be okay with my job being given to someone else, to have it be automated or to be outdone by a computer.

It’s called survival.

If you’re in any way in jeopardy of being outsourced, then take some time to pick this book up and thumb through it.

If you’re curious how focusing on your right brain can make you a better worker, business owner or entrepreneur, then you need this book.

Disclaimer

By clicking on the link above, you will be using my affiliate link.  I will be compensated if you purchase through that link.

It’s a great product because I have read it myself and will only promote products and services that I, myself, have used and approved.

Just so you know  :  )

Why am I writing blog entries on my blackberry?

Simple.

Because getting to a computer & actually sitting down & writing what’s on my mind is an awful thing. It’s gotten incredibly difficult & I more often than not have to deal with a lot of bullsh*t to actually do it.

What? Why am I using that particular word?

Why bullsh*t?

Because it’s the most fitting & no matter how you read this, you’ve got the idea.

No loss in translation here.

I could’ve used plenty of other names or other words, but I’m sticking with this one.

So why am I giving up bullsh*t for lent?

Because it’s everywhere & it’s getting in my way of being productive and, let’s face it, happy.

I like being happy. I actually prefer it to the alternative.

But when something gets in my way, I get caught up &, if I’m lucky, I can sometimes catch myself mid-wallow.

Right before I get in too deep that it’ll take tons of ice cream to dig me out, I’ll see what I’m doing & I’ll try to stop getting all caught up. I try to stop myself from living in all that bullsh*t.

I kinda like that word- bullsh*t.

Anyway, I let myself get caught up. It stops all progress dead in its tracks.

Who do you think suffers throughout all of this?

Yup, you’re right. It’s me & only me.

No one else suffers but me.

But get this- I’m not really the only one who suffers.

We all suffer when I get caught up in all the bullsh*t.

Okay, before you start thinking that my ego has gotten out of control, that I think that the world revolves around me, think about it this way:

I’m meant to do something very specific with my life.

(I actually know what it is. I’ll be sharing that soon. Just not today. Trust me, it’s good.)

Since I’m meant to do something with my life, just like you, when I get caught up, I don’t fulfill that purpose.

(Ah, yes, you see where I’m going with this, finally!!!)

So we all suffer when I get caught up because I don’t fulfill or live up to that purpose. The good that I’m meant to do with my time here doesn’t happen or it happens way later than it should have OR even worse, I rush through & half a$$ it.

So I’m going to do whatever I can to do my part & live that purpose.

But there’s another piece to this.

I suffer when you get caught up too.

So maybe, you can think about giving up bullsh*t for lent too?

For my sake.

Comment on this article and let me know your thoughts!

Quite simply, because it works. As Ali Brown’s business coach and mentor, Anne McKevitt, mentioned on a call last week, “getting a brand is the most important thing that you can invest in for your business.”

Well, you’re in luck because Anne has agreed to be a guest faculty member for Ali and host a six-part telecourse called “Million Dollar Brand Secrets, the Ultimate System to Brand You and Your Business.”

This is a very rare opportunity. Anne doesn’t do telecourses, but she’s doing this one because the need was so great. If you missed Anne’s brief branding session live on stage at Shine 2009, this is your opportunity to learn from her.

(If you want all the scoop now, go here: http://bit.ly/6Igd39)

Anne spearheaded Ali’s brand development, which has resulted in the stellar growth of her company that you may have witnessed over the past 18 months.

Anne helped Ali make the big leap to grow her company to where it is now, an Inc. 500 multi-million-dollar company, one of the fastest growing companies in the nation.

Here’s the best part…this is the most affordable price that Anne has offered for her expertise. This telecourse is available for the unheard of low investment of only $297. (That’s less than $50 per call for the 6 calls!)

You’ll need to act quickly, though, because the course starts TONIGHT!

Here’s what the six-part course includes:

1. Getting Your Brand On–Everything you need to fully understand and prepare for before jumping into brand diagnosis and creation.

2. Your Brand Diagnosis–Anne will walk you through her critical diagnosis process to help you determine if you should tweak your current brand or blow it up and create a new one.

3. Your Brand Prescription After–You complete your diagnosis and remedy your brand with Anne’s help.

4. Your Brand’s Visual Solution–Here’s the fun part – design, look, and feel! Let’s figure out what YOUR brand should look like…

5. Designing and Marketing Your Brand– From preparing, writing, budgeting, to prelaunch and eventual launch, it’s all covered!

6. LIVE Question & Answer Call with Anne. During this call you’ll have the opportunity to ask Anne questions directly and have YOUR brand issues answered!

You’ll never have access to such a distinguished expert on such a timely topic as this at such an affordable price. Don’t miss out on this unprecedented chance that is sure to help you get clarity on how to attract business simply and affordably through effective branding.

Learn more and sign up here: http://bit.ly/6Igd39

…but don’t delay because this telecourse starts TONIGHT, Feb. 2, and then it’s gone because this information will not be repackaged in any other form.

See you in class!

• Start small, create boundaries around how and when you’ll be reachable to those that you choose- we’re not just talking about work responsibilities here…

• Give yourself at least 1 weekend a month to really focus on your family, friends and loved ones without the need to check the blinking light on your phone or to see if anyone has emailed you.  Lose the electronic leash!

• When you go on vacation, truly go ON vacation.  If you need me to interpret that, just give me a holler!

Comment on this article and let me know your thoughts!