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Helping You Create Your Extraordinary Life

The Daily Practice of Self-Development

I’ve always been interested in self-development and getting to know myself better. I want to live an Extraordinary Life, not an ordinary one, and understanding my inner workings is what is making that happen. Self-development is a daily practice, though, not a one-time deal. Just like any other skill, you can deepen your understanding and learn new strategies the more you do it. Last month I had a great reminder of this, one that may help motivate you to improve your daily practices, too. 

A Family Reminder

One of my daily habits is to write out what I’m grateful for. At the top of the list is always family and friends; especially now, as my father-in-law passed away suddenly this summer. As a result, I made two trips down to Colombia. The first was to attend his funeral with our family, and the second was to support my husband and attend family events. 

I spent almost two weeks there, and when I first arrived, my Spanish was very rusty. By the end of the...

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The Positive Side of Positivity

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Whether it’s how you were raised, part of your genetics, or a conscious decision, it’s obvious that some people think more positively than others. Have you noticed that life seems to go more smoothly for positive people? There is great power in positive thinking, and it’s not just about feeling happier or being more optimistic. While these are great side effects of positive thinking, the benefits of it go much further and will help you achieve greater success in your life. 

The Benefits of Becoming More Positive

If being happier isn't a good enough reason to work on increasing your positive thinking, I’m sure that some of the following benefits will sway you to want to see the glass as half-full. 

The Snowball Effect

Recent studies have shown that positive thinking is directly linked to your brain's reward system and pleasure stimulus. This means that once your mind feels the pleasure that positive thinking...

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Learn to be More Self-Disciplined

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I’ve been talking a lot about breaking out of your comfort zone to achieve your goals and dreams. Today, I’m tackling another way to get up and get going: self-discipline. Without self-discipline, it’s easy to get distracted from your goals and just coast through life. That may be fine for a little while, but coasting won’t take you where you want to go. Success takes commitment, and to stay committed, you need self-discipline. 

Self-discipline is something I’ve been working on again lately. You may remember back in May, I tried the 75 Hard Challenge and only made it about halfway. I had all kinds of excuses to stop because the road to success is full of temptations and distractions. I was keeping up with things like my podcast and blog, but not doing some of the other things I knew I should have been doing to move my business forward so I can help more people. So, back to what I know works to be disciplined...

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Invite Gratitude Into Your Life

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Here in the United States it's the day before Thanksgiving, which is the perfect reminder to invite gratitude into your life. Gratitude is more than just giving thanks, however; it’s a quality of being and an emotion that you can feel deep in your heart. For something that you can practice in just minutes a day, gratitude also comes with a cascade of benefits that will improve nearly every aspect of your life. 

More Than Giving Thanks

Most of us say thank you every day. We say it to the checkout clerk at the grocery store, to our kids for putting their dishes away, and to the stranger holding the door open for us at the coffee shop. Most of these interactions are conditioned responses rather than sincere expressions of gratitude, which goes a lot deeper.  

Don’t get me wrong, a simple thank you can have a powerful impact on both parties when genuine gratitude backs it up - and that’s the feeling I’m...

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Create a Life Roadmap With These 5 Questions

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Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could create a life roadmap so you knew exactly where you were going and which forks in the road to follow toward your goals? Since “the great pause” over the past 2 ½ years, I’ve been hearing a lot of “well, what now?” from within my network. It’s hard to feel sure what steps to take next after all the uncertainty, but I have five questions that will help you find clarity. Your answers will also serve as a roadmap, something you can refer to when faced with tough decisions or when you don’t know what to do next. 

I encourage you to think about your answers and write them down. There is something about writing that cements the thoughts into your mind, and makes them more tangible. It will also serve as a reference that you can come back to anytime you need. 

If you’re ready to jump back into life and achieve your dreams, I’d love to...

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Tips to Boost Your Creativity

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 We tend to associate creativity with painting, crafting, or music, but it goes far beyond that. I know that I never thought of myself as creative until my husband pointed out how I can create meals out of anything we have on hand. Still, you don’t need to make something to express yourself creatively; creative expression is all about how you share your unique identity with the world. 

Creative Expression

With my coaching clients, we spend an entire session on creative expression because it’s so important to living an Extraordinary Life. It’s about sensing and exhibiting the true you. It’s about voicing your ideas and leaving your authentic mark on the world. Being the REAL YOU is at the core of your Extraordinary Life. 

 

Comparison can get in the way of your creativity, but so can consuming the creativity of others. With so many movies, tv shows, Tik Toks, Instagram reels, social media, etc.,...

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Strategies to Overcome Your Fears

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We all have fears in life that sneak in and hold us back; sometimes it’s an annoyance while other times it affects our personal growth and goals. The latter comes up with each and every coaching client, some of whom come to me specifically to work on facing their fears while others uncover them during our time together. Whether your fear is of heights (like me), or you want to work through your fear of change, failure, or even success, there are many strategies to help. 

10 Strategies to Overcome Your Fears

Working with a coach is a great way to get an external perspective on your fears and help you work through them, but there are lots of things you can do on your own as well. Some of the ideas below will help you lessen your fears over time, while others may help you in those fearful moments. I encourage you to try one or two that speak to you, be consistent, and be open to the possibility of releasing your fears (because...

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What it Takes to Follow Through

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I recently took on a challenge called 75 Hard to build my mental strength. Essentially, the challenge is designed to help you get better at what you’re going to say you’re going to do. I decided to do it because over the past few years I started breaking little promises and appointments I’d set for myself, and was starting to feel the consequences. The challenge entails doing the following for seventy-five days in a row: exercise twice per day for forty-five minutes each, drink one gallon of water, read ten pages of a personal development book, follow a diet of my choice (I chose no gluten, dairy, or added sugar), and no alcohol. I made it eleven days. 

The challenge is extreme, and I know it’s not for everyone, but I was still disappointed because I was really excited to see and feel the outcome after seventy-five days. After reflecting on why I took the challenge on in the first place and the reasons I...

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5 Ways to Cope With Stress

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Have you noticed when you feel stressed in one area of your life, it seems to attract other stressors? Like when your alarm doesn’t go off and the day starts out hectic, you forget your keys, then traffic is bad, the coffee shop messes up your order, and on it goes until you burn dinner and the dog pukes on the rug?

Life has a way of throwing us curveballs, challenges, and changes, so it’s important to know how to cope with stress so each incident doesn’t snowball like that! Not to mention the impact that stress has on our health, mood, and relationships.

To equip yourself to respond to stress better, I’ve got five simple tips to keep in your toolbelt the next time your boss comes to you with a big project or your kids come down with the stomach flu. You’ve got this. 

1. Know Yourself. By now, you probably have a pretty good understanding of what stresses you out, and how you respond to it....

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Turn Off Autopilot & Take Control of Your Dreams

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I think it was my mentor, David Neagle, that said a map doesn’t do you any good if you don’t know where you are. You have to know where you’re starting to get where you want to go. This is why I use the Whole Life Assessment and High Performance Habits Assessment in my High Performance Planner regularly, and why I share it with my clients. It makes me aware of where I’m at and what I’m doing, so I can see what needs to change (or not!) to achieve my goals and dreams. 

This works because most of us are unaware of what we’re doing unless we start tracking it. For example, when I taught childbirth classes I gave the moms-to-be a weekly worksheet to track what they ate because eating enough protein, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats is important to growing a healthy baby and increasing the chances of an easier birth. But if you’re on autopilot and not conscious of what you're eating,...

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