No Excuses to Success

    
    I just wanted to do a quick post about the amazing momentum I feel in my business and health since starting the book "No Excuses" by Brian Tracy. This is my first book I've read of his so I'm completely unbiased. His writing is impeccable! It's like a mix of Chalean Johnson and John Maxwell combined into one. The steps are clear, simple, and concise. I did the first assignment in the book today and felt so refreshed!! 

    The thing's I haven't come across yet (but I'm seriously counting down the pages) are the 3% formula,  the 40+ formula, and antidote for anger or worry, harnessing the power of "mind storming" and MUCH, MUCH MORE! This book reminds me of my first personal development book, "The Compound Effect" and it's reigniting my love for these books! I've been reading some stale ones lately but this one is SO invigorating!

    Self- discipline is my biggest hurdle in my life right, owning a business at the age of 21 is a challenge to say the least. I know the opportunity I have at my fingertips, I know the possibilities that lay before me, and I know the daily steps I need to take, yet I feel so compelled to finish laundry, watch TV, make some food... basically anything OTHER than work. I picked up this book for this reason exactly - I WANT to make my business work, and to do that I need to sharpen my weakest characteristic. That is, self discipline. So far, this book is DEF addressing that issue. 

Some topics inside:

Give Up Your Suffering
The 4 Questions You Should Ask
The Fatal Flaw in Dieting
The Law of Control
The Nine-Step Method For Solving Problems Effectively
Start Today
Managing Your Time

OH MY GOSH, it's just endless. I could go on and on, but I'm only on page 43 and I already know I'm going to re-read this one after I'm finished. If you're struggling to get your finances in order, your body where you want it to be, or your business isn't taking off, PLEASE look into this book! Its 7.95 at Barnes & Noble right now, and amazon has it too!. BEST. INVESTMENT. EVER!!!

A lil sneak peek!

It feels like every page is filled with information worth GOLD!! Definitely my PD book of the year! Do you have any personal development faves?!

I Believe in PINK & You Should Too

    Audrey Hepburn said "I believe in Pink." Well, growing up I thought it was beautiful and I loved the girliness that it represented, so I used the quote often. (I even had it as one of my facebook descriptions back in the day when facebook had the quote box under profile pictures #embarassing) 

    As I've gotten older I'm starting to think it runs much deeper than it appears on the surface. Pink typically represents girls, who turn into women. Is it possible that Audrey was saying she believe's in women? 

    As silly as it may seem to try to uncode such a simple saying, the more that I think about it, I feel in my soul that she WAS saying "I believe in women." Audrey was more than an actress, she was a humanitarian. She was a film & fashion icon. Women looked up to her. Her elegance and style made her more than a "sex goddess" and instead she had a wholesome beauty and aura that attracted devoted fans. Why was Audrey so special? Her talent, of course, but she never stripped for the silver screen. She never exposed her body to get an oscar nomination. She withheld her standards throughout her whole career despite cleavage making it's way through the 60's-70's. I look up to Audrey and her movies with such admiration. She was beautiful, capturing, and mysterious. 

    I think Audrey behaved in such a way that she expected women to be seen as more than a visual delight, but as a true contribution to society, the work force, etc. She believed in women and the potential that lays inside each of us. I think if Audrey were to give advice to any woman going after her dreams it would be to believe in yourself. Believe in pink. Don't be embarassed by the natural girl attributes that you have, be proud of them! Women have so much more power, strength and wisdom then society often gives us credit for. I'm not a man hater, nor a society hater, but I DO believe that women aren't given enough credit for our natural abilities, mental and physical, that we have inside of us. 

Be like Audrey. Believe in pink. Believe in women. Believe in you.

How To Keep The FUN In Fitness

    Working out doesn't have to be boring, if you're doing a Beachbody workout I know you're not bored BUT on the chance that you're a gym rat and tired of the same old cardio machines and dumbbells at the gym - STOP! Try something new. I'm a HUGE fan of workout DVD's since they're always fun, energetic, and your typically doing it with others (in the TV but HEY who's checking where my friends are from).

    You need to change up your routine so that you stay motivated and most of all, amped up! Pre-workouts are effective but you don't want to rely on them in order to feel energy throughout our workout. If you feel like you NEED a PWO, then you might be doing 1) The wrong workout or 2) not eating the right foods.

    Well, to target #1 (since #2 is an entire post in itself) here are some tips to keeping the FUN in fitness!

Try some sports! 

    I have to say, after I quit playing soccer in High School I stopped considering myself an "athletic girl" even though I still cared about fitness. Well, last weekend my boyfriend and I bought 2 badminton rackets and birdies from the dollar store (YES, they really were a dollar!) we've been playing EVERY. DAY. OMG, who knew how fun badminton was?! (we're even thinking about joining some type of couples team if we can find one)

    Playing badminton at the park (we go so we can throw the ball for my pup, Charlie) has become my addiction. And it's SUCH a good way to get my heart rate up aside from my daily workouts. I know badminton isn't enough to get a serious weightless transformation at the level we're playing at, but seriously - everything counts over the long run.

    If badminton's not your thing, try another sport! Tennis, basketball, soccer, there are so many! Grab a friend, your man, anyone who might want to play and just go for it! You guys will probably have WAY more fun than you're anticipating and you'll be going back for more fun (and burned calories) ASAP. 

    Besides just field sports, if you live near the beach you can go paddle boarding, surfing if you know how - and if you don't, take lessons! What better time?! Unless you're afraid of sharks, which I am... so I'll stick to paddle boarding since there's less time in the water for that one LOL. 

    Have you tried a kickboxing class? A dance class? Yoga? I get my kickboxing and dance fix in with TurboFire (my soulmate workout ♥) and yoga from the 21 Day Fix + P90X. Try taking a class that's near you! A cycling class, Zumba, or go for a run with your pet! 

    Basically, the key to keeping the FUN in FITNESS, is to try new things and to MAKE it fun. The truth is, going to the gym and doing elliptical for 30 minutes just is NOT fun for me, so thats why I do my beachbody workouts. Try them! My friend Laura ordered Brazil Butt Lift last week and said to me "These are hard, but honestly - I'm having SO MUCH FUN!" Make fitness fun and you won't feel like it's draining you, instead you'll feel like it's truly energizing you!

I hope you liked some of the ideas here, try something new this week and let me know how you liked it! Talk soon!

How To Go From Failure To A Success Story

    Have you ever wondered why some people are so successful and it seems like they have it easy? Well, I've thought that too. Until one day I started to involve myself in "Personal Development." I started reading books up the ying-yang and tried to educate myself on what their secret to success was! What I found was different than what I was expecting, and hoping. The TRUE key to success is MASSIVE FAILURE. Keep reading below if you want to understand that carazayyyy statement!

    It turns out, there is no secret formula to success, there is no overnight superstar, and it takes LOTS of trial and error to become a success story. Take Walt Disney for example, he was fired from a newspaper because it "lacked imagination and had no good ideas." Crazy right? 90% of childhoods in the world today would be vastly different if Walt Disney hadn't persevered despite his rejection.

    I learned something really incredible when I saw Darren Hardy, author of the compound effect, speak in Vegas for Summit 2014. Try to think of it this way... life is like a pendulum. On one side of the pendulum theres failure, rejection, defeat, pain, sadness... things that we try to avoid. On the other side of the pendulum is success, acceptance, joy, victory, accomplishment... things we want more of!

    If you just stand still in life, you won't experience much pain, sadness, and failure. But you ALSO won't experience any success, joy, happiness and wealth. What most people do is they go along safely and develop a "comfort zone."

    People are willing to experience only a certain amount of fear/rejection/failure, and as a result of that they only experience so much success/joy/victory because the whole thing is working on a pendulum.  The one thing that you can't control is the success that you pursue. You can't pursue success, it's like chasing butterflies. But the one thing you can control is the amount of failure that you get. With life being a pendulum, the key to success is to push the pendulum as FAR back into the failure side as possible, and it will have NO choice but to swing JUST as far into success and happiness. Creating a bigger "zone" to experience. 

    You see, you can't experience MASSIVE SUCCESS with going for MASSIVE FAILURE. Have you heard of the book "Go For No"? It's a book about how you need to start increasing your failure rate and "go for no" instead of yes! Once you start accepting failure as the KEY to success, you'll be less afraid of "No." Once you increase the amount of "No's" you get, guess what?! You'll ALSO increase the amount of Yes's you get! You have to swing the pendulum farrrrr back, in order for it to rebound and swing farrrr into success. There is no great success story without failure. Stephen King's first novel was rejected 30 times. Oprah Winfrey was fired from her first talk-show job. Thomas Edison failed 1000 times before he created the lightbulb and said "I have not failed, I've just discovered 10,000 ways that don't work." Vincent Van Gogh only sold 1 painting in his life time. Simon Cowell had a failed record company. Steven Spielberg was rejected from USC, twice. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Do you see it? There can be NO success without failure. Every overnight success story you see has actually put in years of hard work, and experienced every kind of failure, setback, and rejection one can think of. What makes them different and takes that person to the top is the fact that they didn't stop. They never gave up. Despite the rejection and heartache, they kept moving forward because that pendulum WILL swing into success if you embrace failure and go BIG. 

    Massive failure, equals massive success! If you want, write down 3 things you've been avoiding to do because you're afraid of failing. Now ask yourself, what are the potential rewards if you go for it regardless of your fear. Is it worth it? Is it worth swinging the pendulum back into failure, pain, & disappointment if it means you would accomplish your dreams and experience happiness, wealth, and success? 

Yes. Now go do it!

Legally Blonde & Legally Ambitious

Hi my loves!! Today I was flipping through the channels and immediately stopped when I saw "Legally Blonde" was on TV. I happened to land on it during one the most fabulous scenes of all time.

No explanation necessary ;) You know what scene I'm talking about now and hopefully you agree that it IS the most monumental scene in that movie (although there are numerous others that come close!)

I mean seriously... here's a girl who HAS it ALL!

She has an incredible body! Not a stick figure... ex. "Booke Windham's workout tapes helped me go from a size 6 to a size 4!" Love it!!! I LOVE the proud size 4 in this movie! And her HAIR! I mean seriously, how can a bottle blonde have hair that healthy?! It's so naturally beautiful and full of life! 

And perhaps most incredibly - a POWERFUL mind. I mean seriously. She got into Harvard! She set her mind to it and made it happen despite everything going against her.

Elle: I don't need back-ups. I'm going to Harvard.

Advisor: Well then, you'll need excellent recommendations from your professors.

Elle: Okay.

Advisor: And a heck of an admissions essay.

Elle: Right.

Advisor: And at least a 175 on your LSATs.

Elle: I once had to judge a tighty-whitey contest for Lambda Kappa Pi. Trust me, I can handle anything.

I feel myself slightly obsessing over her right now. If Elle can do, so can I! There's nothing holding me back from making my dreams a reality. Right now, I'm in the beginning stages of building my business and in all honesty - I've experienced MAJOR road bumps! Who hasn't though. I've had coaches change their mind and quit, customers tell me they want the fitness doll challenge then back out, and it's discouraging! Rejection and failure is hard. REALLY hard. Luckily, I've learned a lot from my personal development - and an important key to success is perseverance and consistency. Even though Elle's goal was a lot different than mine it still gives me hope that people can do whatever they set out to do. We just need to go for it! Go all in. Commit 100%. Wait no, commit 1000%. If Elle Woods can get into Harvard then I can reach 15 Star Diamond.

If you want to lose weight, you can do it! If you want to get into an Ivy-league university, you can do it! If you want to improve your relationship with ANYBODY, you CAN do it! Whatever it is your goal may be, you can make it happen. 

Perseverance in the face of failure. Consistency even when it means sacrifice.

Warner Huntington III: You got into Harvard Law?

Elle: What? Like it's hard?

How To Stay Motivated

If you want to achieve greatness stop asking for permission. 
Anonymous

Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out. 

John Wooden

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.

Anonymous

If you are not willing to risk the usual you will have to settle for the ordinary. 

Jim Rohn

Trust because you are willing to accept the risk, not because it's safe or certain.

Anonymous

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success. 

Swami Vivekananda

All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. 

Walt Disney

Good things come to people who wait, but better things come to those who go out and get them. 

Anonymous

If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got. 

Anonymous

Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. 

Winston Churchill

Just when the caterpillar thought the world was ending, he turned into a butterfly.

Chinese Proverb

Successful entrepreneurs are givers and not takers of positive energy. 

Anonymous

1Whenever you see a successful person you only see the public glories, never the private sacrifices to reach them. 

Vaibhav Shah

Opportunities don't happen, you create them. 

Chris Grosser

Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value. 

Albert Einstein

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.

Eleanor Roosevelt

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. 

Thomas A. Edison

If you don't value your time, neither will others. Stop giving away your time and talents- start charging for it. 

Kim Garst

A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him. 

David Brinkley

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. 

Eleanor Roosevelt

& last but not least - my favourite...

Whether you think you can or think you can't, 

either way you are right.

Henry Ford

How to Win at Life

    Hey guys! I was listening to a Dani Johnson call/webinar today and I REALLY felt my heart and stomach stirring. What she said was not far from things I've heard before but she went DEEP and with such passion that it opened my eyes to what's been holding me back...  excuses. I took a lot of notes so I want to share some of what I learned in hopes that it'll impact some of you the way it did myself.

    The #1 cause of failure is excuses. Have you ever heard that before? I have... but not in the context that it was presented to me today. I've always wanted to become the "do what it takes... get it done" kind of girl. I always told myself things like I don't have time, I'm too stressed out, maybe next month, next week, or tomorrow etc. Well, it's time that we as a society, and I, master the art of FINDING A WAY instead of finding an excuse.

    The first step to to this... yep you've guessed it - get over your excuses. Don't settle for less in a comfort zone that really ISN'T that comfortable. 

-- Excuses lead to frustration and failures, failures lead to an unhappy life and a big fat rut. 

-- Excuses stop us from becoming who we want to become.


    It's time. The time is right now. Do something extraordinary, and do something drastic. Whether you want to start a business, lose weight, find an incredible relationship, connect with God, get out of debt, WHATEVER it is... you can do it. 

Find a way to make it happen. Give it your best shot, because your best is good enough.

How to Increase Your Success Ratio ;)

Since adjusting to being MY own BOSS, I've really had to understand a few things. 

    1. Without risk, there can be no success.

    2. The more you fail, the more you succeed.

    3. No one can create success for you.

    The first time I heard this expression things just CLICKED for me. I hope it does the same for you! Whatever your GOALS may be - treat them seriously and you will be REWARDED seriously.

To sum it up, if you want to increase the rate that you succeed, you've GOT to increase the rate that you fail! Do NOT be afraid of failure. Embrace it. Get cozy with trial and error and keep moving forward!!

MOST IMPORTANTLY...

Love ya!

Never Give Up

"Never Give Up"

I feel like this saying represents SO many of us & for good reason! There are multiple setbacks in life - whether it's in your personal life, relationships, health journey, career etc. It doesn't matter WHAT it is, chances are you've experienced disappointment.

There have been times in the past when I wanted to throw in the towel when it came to losing weight and I would tell myself "I'm not even seeing results!" and then 2 weeks later I would compare my photos and say to myself "WOW. Thank gosh I didn't stop."

If you've read the Compound Effect, you'll know ALL about the "Merry Go-Round" or the "Water Pump" analogy. We're working and working, pumping the water and nothings coming up - nothings happening! But the truth is, all the water is being sucked up from underground and it needs to build pressure first. Then seemingly like magic, right before you think NOTHING is gonna happen, water starts pouring out generously.

That principle applies to everything in life - just when you think you're not going anywhere... you're actually on the BRINK of a breakthrough. So, if you're at a plateau with weightless - keep going! You're soooo close. Or if you're close to giving up on a career related goal - keep going! You'll be noticed soon. You're life WILL CHANGE if you can understand the importance of persistence. Keep going!

Whatever it is - "Never Give Up"