Recently, I made a trip to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) here in Los Angeles to renew my driver’s license. I made a smart choice by scheduling an appointment for my renewal rather than “winging it” as a “walk in.” As I approached the DMV in my car, I saw scores of people forming a line that wrapped around the outside of the building. As you can imagine, my heart began to race at the prospect of standing in a line that long. I began a mental scan of my “to do” list in my head with a bit of anxiety about how lengthy this process might be.
Smart Women Plan Ahead
December 17, 2010 By
Smart Women and The Way Things Are
December 2, 2010 By
Recently, I traveled to the East coast to see my Dad who’s experiencing some health challenges. I spent a considerable amount of time in medical facilities and meetings with physicians. One morning when I was feeling tired and in need of some self-care, I decided to visit the local salon for a wash and blow dry. When I arrived, there was no wait and I was immediately taken back to the area where they wash your hair. As I took my seat in the chair, I asked my signature question. It’s the same question I ask everyone I come in contact with when I’m out and about: “How is everything going?” This one question typically has three answers:
Smart Women Practice Quality Not Quantity
July 29, 2010 By
Last weekend, I spent the day alone with my 7 year-old daughter Jenna and it was grand. We went shopping, had lunch together and enjoyed a great afternoon. I felt a much stronger bond with her when the day ended. This got me thinking about how it’s the quality of the time you spend and not the quantity that matters in every area of your life.
Smart Women and the 5% Solution
August 28, 2009 By
Have you ever thought about the positive benefits you could have in your life if you just took 5% more responsibility for certain aspects of your life? I was asked this question a few weeks ago when I attended Jack Canfield’s “Breakthrough to Success” seminar in Scottsdale, Arizona.
At first, I didn’t give the question too much thought. It just didn’t feel like I could create value in the important areas of my life with just 5% more responsibility. After all, when it comes to thinking about spending more time doing anything, we typically have a whole list of excuses—right? I can give you a few of my excuses:
“I don’t have time.”
“I’m too busy.”
However, after some thoughtful consideration during the exercise, I realized that 5% responsibility in terms of my time was about an hour a day of television.
I’m sharing this exercise with you this week because it was powerful for me. 5% seemed inconsequential to me at first. Typically, we believe that we need to give so much of our time to aspects in our lives if we want them to improve or experience greater benefits. That was the genius of the exercise; To experience and visualize the many benefits we could receive in our lives if we only took 5% more responsibility. Here are a few Aha’s that came out of this exercise for me:
1. If I were to take 5% more responsibility for the success of my Relationships I would:
- Have weekly date nights with my husband
- Have dates nights with each of my children
- Have regular phone calls to my sister who lives on the East Coast
2. If I were to take 5% more responsibility for the success of my Health I would:
- Schedule in one more day per week for cardio exercise
- Meditate one more day per week for a calm and focused mind
3. If I were to take 5% more responsibility for the success of my business I would:
- Attend at least one additional networking event per month
How about you? If you were asked these same questions, how would you answer them? Mine were about Relationships, Health and Business. What would yours be? Where could you create the greatest impact in your life if you took 5% more responsibility?
Smart Women Understand the BLT Factor
October 23, 2008 By
Recently, my family attended a western-themed fundraiser to benefit our children’s elementary school. It was a fun-filled afternoon with various booths for the children and adults to participate in. Each booth had a different activity where you could try your skills. Walking around the event, I noticed that some booths had more activity than others.
After awhile, I realized that the people running the booths with the highest energy and excitement levels drew the most people. This got me thinking about how Smart Women know that it’s not the service or the product that will make you successful in life. The key is You, the person behind the product or service.
Every day we are met with lots of choices about different products or services that we can use to benefit us in some way. I’m always curious to learn why people choose one product or service over another. Time and again, I learn that people choose to purchase products and services from people that they Believe, Like, and Trust—the BLT Factor.
What a great holiday!
February 14, 2008 By
Happy Valentines Day! What a great holiday. Both of my children were excited to go to school today to enjoy festive parties, make valentine crafts and eat lots of sweet treats!
This is a day to honor those who mean so much to us in some special way. I invite you to stop for a moment and think about who makes your heart beat faster, who makes your heart soar with excitement—-did you think of someone, maybe more than one person? Good. It’s a great day to tell those people the impact they have on your life.
Be well,
Joy
Receive this 5-part video series as my gift when you sign up for my Weekly eZine, Reflections, and discover...
