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Smart Women Create the Right Environment

July 17, 2008 | By Joy Chudacoff 1 Comment

Recently, I took a road trip with my family from Los Angeles to Napa Valley, California. During my visit I learned that it takes a different environment (soil, temperature, irrigation) to grow different types of grapes to make wine. For example, you cannot create a great tasting chardonnay when you are in an environment that creates great Pinot Noir. This got me thinking about how important our environment is when we are creating something new in our lives.

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.

Smart Women Paint Their Magic Circle

May 29, 2008 | By Joy Chudacoff 2 Comments

I took my daughter Jenna to her Karate class the other day, and after the instructor welcomed all of the children to the class he asked them to “paint your magic circle around you.” I sat there and watched a group of children take their hands and paint an imaginary circle around their bodies and sit down. This exercise was, of course, the instructors attempt to keep 12 five year-olds from running around the room doing things that weren’t meaningful, so that they could stay focused. This got me to thinking about how women “paint magic circles” around their lives as well.

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.

Smart Women Know How to Pack

May 1, 2008 | By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

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.

Smart Women Make Amazing Things Happen

March 20, 2008 | By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

The month of March is a very important month if you are a basketball fan. It’s “March Madness” and there are games from every team around the country participating in playoffs and finals all month. We are big basketball fans at our house. I was watching a game this week with my children and a commercial came on for the NBA. Their slogan this season is “NBA—Where Amazing Happens.” They were highlighting their best players and talking about reaching dreams and goals. It got me thinking about placing ourselves in the right environment so that “our amazing happens.”

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.

Smart Women Create the Right Environment

Smart Women Paint Their Magic Circle

Smart Women Know How to Pack

Smart Women Make Amazing Things Happen

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