What Smart Women Can Learn From Einstein About Reaching Goals

January 5, 2012 By Joy Chudacoff

My favorite quote by Einstein is “Vision without execution is merely hallucination.” The first time I read this I was surprised at the glaring truth to this simple statement. At the same time, I realized it’s sometimes easier said than done.

Goal setting, New Year’s resolutions, dreams, and big ideas-these are heavy on people’s minds right now as we cross the threshold into 2012. Everyone wants to make up for lost time and start off the year on a course to reach their biggest goals and why not? It’s a leap year which makes it even more exciting to think about soaring to new heights. I’m right there with you. I, too, have big ideas, dreams and goals.
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Smart Women And The 4 Entrepreneurial Phases

September 12, 2011 By Joy Chudacoff

Entrepreneurial PhasesWhen you start a new business or take action on a big idea that you’ve had brewing for a while, it can be a very exciting time.  You begin to get a taste of what entrepreneurship can feel like; you’re in control of your own schedule, maybe you worked for someone else and you’ve escaped the rigid 9-5 routine and you’ve become your own boss – life feels good.

I remember when I started my first business.  Initially, my goal was to earn an extra $500 per month so I could afford my own apartment and eliminate the need for a roommate. 

Over time, my vision for that part-time local business began to grow and ultimately it became an international business that had revenues of just under 2 million.

Along my entrepreneurial journey and working with 1000′s of women, I’ve discovered that there are 4 phases to entrepreneurship and each phase plays a key role in your success.  Each phase requires a different skill or way of thinking and one is not more important than the other.  You may find that you are a “natural” in one or more of the phases and possibly “challenged” in other phases.  If so, you will want to think about getting support in the areas where you’re less comfortable.

Learn The 4 Phases of Entrepreneurial Success

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Smart Women, American Girl® and Building Your Brand

July 22, 2010 By Joy Chudacoff

A few weeks ago, I took a vacation with my family to New York City. While there, we visited the American Girl® store. My daughter Jenna loves this store, and it’s easy to understand why so many girls are attracted to this brand. When you enter the store, the “experience” begins. This got me thinking about how Smart Women could learn from American Girl® how to build a business image or brand that lasts.

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Get a proven plan to make your Big Ideas, Dreams and Goals a reality

October 29, 2009 By Joy Chudacoff

I’m so excited to share my new system with You!

Introducing “Creating The Spark – 6 Steps to Igniting the Passion for the Life & Business That You Will Love.” This is a proven system that I’ve used with 100’s of women over the past 5 years in my Success Circles and now I’m making it available to women everywhere! If you are ready to make a change in your life and have a proven plan of action to make your Big Ideas, Dreams and Goals a reality, then this system is for you.

More information here, www.CreatingYourSpark.com.

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Smart Women Live A Proactive Life

October 8, 2009 By Joy Chudacoff

Yesterday, as I was on my way to pick up my kids from school, it occurred 10-08-09sailingto me that I was feeling exhausted—I mean really tired. As I made a mental scan of my day, I realized that I had been in a “reactive” mode most of the day rather than a “proactive” mode. We do need to react to situations that occur in our lives as best we can at that moment, however, Smart Women know that living a “proactive” life where you plan, prepare, and practice conscious living is clearly more rewarding.

Living a “reactive” life can be exhausting and frustrating. There are a lot of quick stops and fast starts–most of them unplanned. The best way for me to describe my day was it felt like I was in a ship without a rudder. No direction, just floating out in a big sea of confusion. No real direction, just reacting to each wave. There was no planned course or clear navigation. I was just trying to keep this rudderless boat afloat and get back to shore.

In contrast, when you are living a “proactive” life, your days are on course with clear navigation, doing things that will lead you to your Big Ideas, Dreams, and Goals. Being “proactive” about your life is being conscious and thoughtful about how you spend your days. You are queen of your ship, with a well thought out map on where you’re going, what you’re going to do, and with whom you will do it.

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Hello From Utah!

August 7, 2009 By Joy Chudacoff

Hey Smart Women!  I’m writing to you this week from Park City, Utah.  I had08-06-09Note forgotten just how beautiful and peaceful this cozy mountain is!  It’s exactly where I need to be right now.

Everyone in our family has something fun they enjoy doing here. Jenna is loving her skateboard camp. Her teacher is a “yo-dude” that moves at the pace of molasses when he’s not on his skateboard. But when he gets on that skateboard, you better get up and get outta the way! He moves like lightning on the “board!”

Yesterday, I met with smart woman, Patti Kerr here in Park City. Patti and I have been working together for awhile by phone (she lives on the East Coast) and she decided to come out West and meet with me to keep moving her Big Ideas forward. Patti is currently working on developing her business and writing a book, “I Love You, Who Are You? Loving and Caring for a Parent with Alzheimers.” She is taking action on the work that she loves and feels passionate about.

And if you want to know more about how Smart Women Get Away, don’t miss my Article today! Oh, I forgot to mention…I had such a great response last week to my New Private One-Day Retreat Package—women are really jumping on this one! If you missed it last week, make sure you check it out.

Be well,

joy-signature-for-ezine-24

Joy Chudacoff, ICF  PCC
Professional Certified Coach
Smart Women Smart Solutions
310-454-2005

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“Helping women create an extraordinary life.”

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Birthday parties, Baseball Camp and Ali

July 24, 2009 By Joy Chudacoff

Hey Smart Women—how are you?  I’ve had a busy few weeks with lots of connection to family and friends.  We celebrated my father-in-law’s 82nd birthday this past weekend…  I played tennis with him, and I have to say, he’s in great shape.  His secret to staying healthy?  “Everything in moderation.”

The kids are having fun catching up with friends and going to a few camps.  07-23-09CampRaoulThis week they’re at UCLA Baseball camp.  You walk into the Jackie Robinson stadium and feel overwhelmed by the size and magic of it all.  The kids are really enjoying being in that space playing a sport they love.  Secretly, I wish I were there myself!

Last night, I had a “date night” with my 8-year-old son, Jack.  When we got in the car to leave the house, he looked at me and said, “Mom, I can tell this is going to be a great night!”  We went to a restaurant in Santa Monica that has wall-to-wall flat screen TV’s where you can watch just about any sport that holds your interest.  Of course, we watched the Dodgers play against the Cincinnati Reds.  Hamburger for Jack, salad for me.  As we left the restaurant, he even held my hand, which rarely happens anymore since he’s a “big boy” now.  This is what it’s all about…

I’ve got some exciting news to share with you:  A few weeks ago, I was selected from more than 100 people to become a Platinum Mastermind Leader for Ali International, LLC.  Ali International has qualified to be considered for the Inc. 500 list as one of  the fastest growing companies in 2009.  Ali Brown, www.AliBrown.com,  has created a multi-million dollar enterprise and has been one of my coaches over the last few years.  I’m honored  to be chosen as a Mastermind Leader for her company.
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Smart Women Take the Leap

November 21, 2008 By Joy Chudacoff

The other day, I was listening to one of Madonna’s great dance tunes, “Jump.”  It’s a fun song that makes me want to jump up and dance around the room.  It also motivates me into thoughts about the “jump” in my own life–to take the leap to the next level. 

This got me thinking about how Smart Women take the leap into realizing their Big Ideas, Dreams, and Goals.

We all have passions and dreams inside of us.  There may be times in our life when those passions and dreams can take a “back seat” to other areas in our lives, but they are still there—they never disappear or go away.  They wait patiently for us to acknowledge them and take some sort of action—a leap toward them.  As we begin to fantasize about those unfulfilled passions and dreams, we can sometimes fall into a trap of believing that they may never come true.  Why?  Because these dreams usually require change that’s really “big.”  Change would need to occur in our lives. 

Change brings about uncertainty and being “uncomfortable.” Do you think I might be writing from experience?

Many of you know my story.  I founded and ran an international marketing company for 12 years.  It started as a part-time business because I needed to earn extra income.  Over time (and a lot of hard work!), it became an international company that was very successful.  This allowed me the opportunity to travel to wonderful places all over the world to do my work.  When I became a mom, I realized that this was no longer the right path for me.  After much soul-searching, I felt a calling to work with women to help them realize their own passions and dreams.  Was it easy?  No way!  Was it challenging to make such a bold change in my life with two young children?  You bet.

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Smart Women Can Be Action Figures Too!

June 19, 2008 By Joy Chudacoff

In my Success Circles, women create vision boards which represent their big ideas, dreams and plans for living a life filled with energy, passion and purpose.  I invite them to bring in favorite photos or magazines they enjoy reading, as possibilities for their board.  This week, Dawn, a Circle member (and smart woman) brought in “The Big Book of Action Stickers.”  It was a big colorful book filled with stickers for just about everything you can imagine from animals to people.  As I flipped through the pages, it got me thinking about how simple it is to become who you want to be in the world.

Have you ever watched a child take an action sticker and place it somewhere on their body?  They instantly become their version of who that sticker represents to them.  When my daughter puts on a “Batman” sticker, you better believe that she is Batman.  Same thing with Spider-Man (for those of you who know Jenna – she is not going to put on a Cinderella sticker!) Children have this incredible imagination that they can become anything they choose.  My son Jack, will tell you with great confidence that he is going to be both a professional baseball and basketball player.  You may be reading this and thinking, “Oh well, children have such a big imagination.”  Yes, they certainly do.

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Smart Women Plant Their Seeds

June 5, 2008 By Joy Chudacoff

Last Friday, my children and I went to an Eco-Fest at my son’s school. It offered creative ways to think about living organically and sustaining our planet. At one point my 5 year old daughter Jenna wandered to a booth a few feet away from me, and I noticed that she became very focused on what they were doing. Minutes later, she appeared with something wrapped inside recycled paper that she was carrying very carefully. “Look Mom, I’ve made a pumpkin plant. All we have to do is plant it when we get home and it will grow a pumpkin.” Jenna carried that recycled paper containing dirt and pumpkin seeds with such care for the rest of the afternoon. She was so proud and excited about what she had created, as well as the future when the seeds grow into an actual pumpkin.

This got me thinking about women in the world who are carrying their big ideas, dreams, and goals with them — have you planted them so they will grow, or do you continue to carry them around—possibly in recycled paper, or maybe in your mind?

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Smart Women Know How to Pack

May 1, 2008 By Joy Chudacoff

This past weekend, our family went on a camping trip with my daughter Jenna’s pre-school class.  There were 30 children, ages 4-5, along with their parents and teachers.  Needless to say, my daughter and her classmates had a terrific time and created many lasting memories.  When I asked her what her favorite part was, she said, “climbing all those trees, Mom!”  If you have ever been camping, then you are well aware that you put your tent up, roll out that sleeping bag, and prepare to live in nature.  Then, of course, when the camping is over you begin the task of taking all of those items and getting them back into their small, tiny, itty-bitty bags.  As soon as you begin this process, you immediately wonder – how in the world did they ever get that sleeping bag into that tiny carrying case in the first place?

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.

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