We all have dreams and ideas that we want to manifest.  It could be starting a new business, a new relationship, a fitness routine, a new career, etc.  What I have observed in many people (including myself at times) is that we make a plan to accomplish our dreams and ideas, but often neglect to create an environment that supports our road to success.  We have both an external environment and an internal environment.  What’s the difference?  Your external environment is your home, your office, the community where you live, and relationships you have with other people.  Your internal environment is your authentic self, your internal voice – your core.  Today I’m going to share some thoughts with you about your external environment. 

As you reflect on your external environment, does it spark your creativity?  Do you feel at ease and “at home” in these surroundings or do they create anxiety and stress?  Three months ago, I would have answered anxiety and stress if asked that question.  We moved into a new home in March and like most women who are busy wearing many hats – wife, mother, entrepreneur, etc. – a lot of things were not getting done.  After some deliberation, Greg and I made a decision to hire a professional organizer, Julie Gardner (julieloveslife@yahoo.com) (www.julieagardner.com/GetOrganized.htm), to support us in creating an environment that provides harmony, respite, and a place where we can envision a future for ourselves and our children.

I’ve written about the process of “letting go” in previous articles.  It’s something that many of us struggle with.  You have to let go in order to create the space for something new in your life.  A Smart Woman knows when she needs support.  In my case, it was hiring Julie.  Julie “interviewed” Greg and me to find out what we wanted to accomplish and if we were really ready to move forward in creating the environment we talked about.  We were, and we recognized that we needed help.

One of the big reflections for me in this process has been learning how to navigate the past, present, and future.  My challenge with “letting go” of things from my past was keeping me from stepping into my present life and my possibilities for the future.  When we “hold on” to everything from our past, we cannot become fully present or envision the future.  Why?  Because we need “space” to allow us to create an environment which will support us as we step into a passionate, purposeful, meaningful future.

How about your external relationships?  Do the people in your life make you feel calm, harmonious, and “at home”?  Or do you find your current relationships stressful and anxiety producing?  Maybe it’s time to go through the process of “holding on” or “letting go” of these as well.  In order to realize your dreams and ideas, you need to surround yourself with people who champion you – people who think you hung the moon. 

I invite you to take some time this summer to evaluate your external environment.  Begin to create the home, office, and relationships that support you in becoming everything that you want to be in your life.  You are capable of so much.  It’s essential you create the space that allows you to bring all of your unique gifts to the world.

Next week, I’ll share some ideas with you about your internal environment.  Until then…

Anything is possible.  Everything is waiting for you.

© 2008 Joy Chudacoff

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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Joy Chudacoff is the founder of Smart Women Smart Solutions and a Certified Professional Coach. To read more articles by Joy and learn more about her Success Circle workshops and teleseminars, please visit her website, www.SmartWomenSolutions.com or contact Joy at Joy@SmartWomenSolutions.com.

Thankfully, women have a lot of choices in our society today. This can be both good and bad news. Why? Because we can do it all and we do it all very well. Sometimes I think we paint too many “magic circles.” We have the opportunity to fulfill many roles —wife, partner, mom, career, entrepreneur, daughter, volunteer, caregiver, friend—did I leave anything out? With so many responsibilities demanding our time and attention, we need to paint a magic circle called “magic circle for me.”

Given all that we do, we rarely take the time necessary for ourselves. It’s crucial that you paint a “magic circle” that is just for you, because you need a place where you can sit and reflect. A magic circle where you can sit and think about where you are right now and where you might want to go next. Sometimes we have “magic circles” where the paint is old, chipped and faded. It’s time to let go of that magic circle and create a new one. Remember, it’s magic, it’s imaginary—you can change it if you want to. Here’s the problem with this sometimes.

You become so comfortable in all of your “magic circles” that you don’t want to leave them or change them in any way. You become unable to think about picking a new color of paint or where you might want to paint the new circle. All sorts of uncomfortable things start to happen and what do you do? You stay in the old, chipped, faded magic circle. Why? It’s comfortable and you are used to it. Doing something new and different can be uncomfortable. However, it is the only way that real growth happens in our lives.

This is a big part of my work with women. I encourage women to create “the magic circle for me” so that they can have the space to reflect on what makes the most sense moving forward. Being a support to them while they decide what color their next “magic circle” will be is helpful. You need someone to be there to help you work through the uncomfortable part of leaving your old “magic circle” and painting a new one. It can be a challenge to truly decide which circles make sense for you moving forward in your life. Having a supportive, non-judgmental person is essential.

How about you? Are you running in too many directions right now? Are you having a hard time navigating your way? Is your circle old and in need of a new coat of paint? Or, maybe you want to discard that color all-together and paint something completely new in your life. I invite you to take some time and think about your circle. Summer is a great time to reflect, touch up or repaint.

The nice part about your magic circle is you can change it, leave it or create a new one any time you choose to.

Anything is possible. Everything is waiting for you.

On Sunday, as we all began to pack up, my friend and smart woman, Margie Glick, said with a chuckle, “This is a morning about packing a lot into a little.”  Well said Margie.  It also got me to thinking about how busy women do this act most every day.  We look at the “to do” list and we try to pack as much as we can into the smallest amount of time.  At the end of the day, we end up late, exhausted, and cranky.  After all, we are wives, partners, moms, entrepreneurs, daughters, friends, volunteers—did I miss anything?  And we take each one of those roles very seriously.  As a matter of fact, we take them so seriously that it can become hazardous to our well-being.  “Getting it all done” can be a badge of honor that we wear.  To be able to check off the “to do” list at the end of the day can feel liberating, or, over time some of it can also begin to feel like a burden.

In my work with women, one of the areas where we spend time is looking at what’s most important and meaningful to them right now in their life.  What seems to hold the most value for you?  What’s missing in your life?  What would you like to let go of?  What seems to be calling you right now in your life?  When we are so hurried, meeting deadlines, and racing to complete the “to do” list, we sometimes miss what might be most important for us right now.  It’s essential to take some quiet, peaceful time to think about what might be next, what might need to change in your life. 

It’s about unpacking your life’s suitcase and looking at each piece as you take it out and deciding:  “Do I really need this?”  “Is this part of where I am going?”  We need to learn how to lighten our load.  When I was in my 30’s, I used to have all of these big ideas.  I would think about them with great energy and then I would ask myself the question:  “How will I get all of this done?” 

In my 40’s, I still have lot’s of great big ideas.  I ask myself a different question now:  “Who can help me accomplish this?”  Big difference.  Different mindset.  Better results.  The key is to unpack your life’s suitcase, let go of what’s no longer meaningful, hold on to what’s essential, and give away what’s meaningful but does not necessarily need to be in your suitcase (things that need to get done but maybe you do not need to be the one doing it!).
 
What we realized that morning at the campsite, was that we needed to be supportive and collaborative to get packed up.  Everywhere you looked you saw a lot of people working together to pack “a lot into a little.”  And this of course, made all the difference.

Anything is possible.  Everything is waiting for you.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Joy Chudacoff is the founder of Smart Women Smart Solutions and a Certified Professional Coach. To read more articles by Joy and learn more about her Success Circle workshops and teleseminars, please visit her website, www.SmartWomenSolutions.com or contact Joy at Joy@SmartWomenSolutions.com.

I’m a big believer that women need the right environment to make their amazing happen.  I rarely come up with my big ideas unless the environment is right for me to be creative.  I like a quiet, reflective environment where I can see lots of nature—trees, flowers, grass, blue sky.

This is a big topic of discussion in my Women’s Success Circles.  I invite each woman to determine where her best environment might be to create her “amazing life.”  This is why I have all of my Success Circles at the Inn at Playa del Rey or work with women at the Channel Road Inn.  It’s a peaceful, reflective place where women can think about what they really want to happen next in their life.

This is such a crucial part of designing our preferred lives, and we often don’t always realize how important it is.  We sit down at the kitchen table to begin or complete a project and guess what happens?  Distractions!  Lots of them!  “Mom, where’s my …..”?  The phone begins to ring.  We look over at the kitchen sink and see it full of dishes waiting for us.  Or if we work in an office setting, it’s pretty much the same except its co-workers knocking on our door, unanswered emails, or endless meetings that require our presence.  I have a client who finally began to take this seriously and she rented a small studio apartment with no phone.  She goes there 2 times per week and her staff has no idea where she is.  She tells me that she is creating the most amazing dreams and goals for her personal and professional life in this environment.

How about you?  Do you have an environment where you can make your amazing happen?  You do not have to rent a studio apartment—that‘s just one example.  You can go to a park, the local library, or maybe you have a nice quiet space where you can create undisturbed.  What I hear from a lot of women is “I’m not very creative.”  Oh, yes you are!  Every woman is full of creativity. How do I know?  Well, I went through the first half of my life thinking that I wasn’t creative.  Once I gave myself that creative space and the permission to really explore what I really wanted in my life, it came pouring out of me like a waterfall.  It’s about designing the space in your life so that your creativity can come pouring out.  You will be amazed at what can happen when you purposefully place yourself in the right environment and have the right support person there to help you navigate your journey.  And you will be delighted at how little time you need once you take this step. 

Let’s not allow the NBA to be the only place “where amazing happens.”  I invite you to think about two things:  Where your creative environment might be and when you will visit that space.  Spring has arrived.  It’s the perfect time to plant your amazing seeds of creativity—your dreams, goals, and big idea.

Anything is possible.  Everything is waiting for you.

Copyright 2008 Joy Chudacoff

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Joy Chudacoff is the founder of Smart Women Smart Solutions and a Certified Professional Coach. To read more articles by Joy and learn more about her Success Circle workshops and teleseminars, please visit her website, www.SmartWomenSolutions.com or contact Joy at Joy@SmartWomenSolutions.com.