Lauren Card Live

Heading to bed shortly, and my mind is a symphony of amazing new memories of the past two days.  While my head is buzzing, I am content and will have no trouble sleeping…(I might have trouble waking!)

The drive home will be long with plenty of time to rewind the tape in my mind of the rich experiences and the relaxing time away.  I expect that as I get nearer to home that my mind will start shifting to what lies ahead.  Tasks, phone calls, emails, and the hum-drum of everyday life intruding on my relaxed state.  I’m guessing that I’m not alone in wanting my vacation last longer than just the time away.

So what can I do to make it last?  First, I will make a concerted effort to stay in touch with my family…I’ll call them when I get home to let them know how much fun I had, and maybe to set another date to get together.  Second, I will take some special time for myself each week for self-care.  A highlight of my trip was to take a luxurious bath.  I don’t have to wait for another vacation to take another luxurious bath!  Lastly, I took gobs of pictures and videos.  I’m going upload them to a photo site, and have a special album available online and printed that I send as “Thank You” to my family.  Everytime that I look the album, I’ll be back on vacation.

Life isn’t a vacation, but the relaxed feeling that you get at end of yours is more of a state of mind than a direct result of the time away.  With some care and focus, it can become a part of my everyday world.  How about for you?

It truly is amazing how fast time flies. I was reminded by my brother, Clark today that it’s actually been two and a half years since we last were together. Where does the time go?… this statement is asked by many everyday and comes from being aware in that moment. What does it take to be more in the moment?

I have only one more day with Clark on this trip. I plan during our time alone tomorrow to see and remember all the little things about him. I will use my mind like a camera and capture frame after frame, all of his unique traits and nuances to play over and over until we are together again. I’ve decided to enhance my powers of observation, to see more detail, to become more Hi-Definition. Scientists tells us our brains record far more detail that we recall. I want to have choice in what I remember.

So…how about you? When you wake up tomorrow what will you train your camera on? Will you film whatever comes into view, or will you decide how your script might look in advance? Use your camera with purpose and have fun! Capture those once-in-a-lifetime moments in Hi-Definition.

A 6 and 1/2 hour drive is a lot of time to be reflective, especially when you’re anticipating seeing your family after a long time away. I haven’t seen my brother in over two years, and when our eyes met this afternoon, the initial look made up for all the lost time.

In reconnecting, there were many laughs and fun remembrances that took us back to another time in our lives…it seems like it was so many years ago. We talked and talked, and told each other so many funny stories! Our shared experiences as kids, laughing and playing…backyard barbeques, rites of passage, and much, much more. What fun it is to share those times again!

The great thing is that I know that my family and I are always connected, no matter how much time or distance comes between us. For this I am truly grateful.

FYI, I’m having technical difficulties tonight, so the blog is a bit shorter than usual. Videos will soon follow. Thanks for your understanding.

If you haven’t had a chance to talk to your family for a while, perhaps it might be a good time to pick up the phone and give them a call. I wish for you the wonderful experience that I had today.

L.

Think about what you say regarding your life and the words you choose to communicate those feelings with others and yourself on a daily basis. What is your internal dialogue? How do you handle relationships? Bottom line…Change your beliefs and you’ll achieve better results.

You already know that you’re free to choose your actions (subject to any physical restraints you may be currently experiencing). And of course your actions have consequences. If you take action and observe a negative consequence, the wise advice would be to change your actions. If you take action and achieve a positive result, you’ll probably want to repeat that action under similar circumstances. This is just common sense, right?

It’s less commonly understood that you’re also free to choose your beliefs. In fact, you’re even more free to choose your beliefs than your actions because you needn’t worry about being physically restrained from believing anything you want. Few people, however, take full advantage of the freedom to change their beliefs. Your beliefs have consequences just as your actions do, and those consequences aren’t always positive.

I invite you to look within yourself. Write down one of your goals, and then list any beliefs you can think of that might stand in your way. Go over those limiting beliefs one by one, create new beliefs and replace with those that empower. You’ll find examples below…

…Here’s a “Golden Nugget” from instructor Gary de Rodriguez. Right after you catch yourself saying or thinking a negative belief, quickly say: “Cancel Clear”. This really helps change our old belief systems and anchor in the new.

I’m not smart enough “Cancel Clear” replace with: I am confident and self assured

I hate my body “Cancel Clear” replace with: I love all of my body parts

I’m always going to struggle in life “Cancel Clear” replace with: Abundance is my natural state.

I am only as good as the success I achieve “Cancel Clear” replace with: I am worthy of my prosperity

Be Do Have!

I have three trees. I didn’t plant them, none the less they are mine. Guardians on a hillside they watch and wait silently for me. I always know they are there and I believe they know the same about me…waiting for the next time I come to visit.  I’ve watched them go through seasons of change, from summer to winter when they lose all their leaves, beautiful in their nakedness. From the dead of winter to the beginning of spring, embracing the new life within. They are truly magnificent, but someday, like me, they will die.

Two years ago, I went through a life-changing event that made me more reflective. On a walk in search of solitude, I found my trees on a hillside near my home.  I felt heard and understood as I told them my troubles.  They made no judgments, they offered no suggestions.  Instead they encouraged me to be my natural self, as they are.

It occurs to me that it is time to plant trees.  A child somewhere, warm in their bed, is on a collision course with fate.   There will come a day when this child is desperate for friendship and understanding.  I want them to have their own experience with a tree they may come to call their own.

It’s late now, and I am done.  Three small pots from the nursery…carefully installed into the hillside behind my home. These trees, a gift from a giving universe are already pushing their roots down as I get ready for sleep.  Each day and night they will grow stronger and taller, in preparation for the day that they are needed.

I am a bit older now…and I still visit my trees on a regular basis. It’s fall, their colors are changing and they are starting to lose their leaves. I love lying down underneath them, watching and waiting for just one leaf to fall.  I see my own change reflected in their change.  As their branches grow and leaves fall, so do mine.

It’s 10:00 Monday night.  You have a giant presentation in morning and you’ve been working all day long to get the Powerpoint just right.  As you finish up slide number 38 you congratulate yourself…they’re gonna love it.  For some strange reason, your keyboard stops responding.  You press the SAVE key, once, twice and then it hits you…your  computer is locked up.  You are going to have to reboot.   A cold chill creeps up your leg…when was the last time that you saved your work….OH NO…you realize that you NEVER SAVED your work.  The entire presentation is going down the toilet.  NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Feeling a bit of stress are you?  Are your nickers in a twist?  Well there Ms. Entrepreneur, what are you going to do now?  How are you going to fix this mess?  More importantly, how are you going to save from the  stress of burning the candle at both ends?  The problem is not technology, it’s one of perspective.

First of all, cut yourself some slack.  This kind of stuff is going to happen from time to time.  If it’s just now and then, have a glass of wine, and get ready for an all-nighter.   “But wait” you say,  this kind of stress happens all the time!  If it isn’t cashflow, it’s grumpy customers, slow sales, tough competition, you name it…your LIFE IS STRESS.

So when is some stress too much stress?

• When it’s 4AM and your dog looks at you thinking “Can I PLEASE go outside?”
• When out of the corner of your left eye you see a blinding light and you realize its the sun coming up.
• When the nervous tic in your eye starts to sync up with the YouTube video you’re watching.
• You turn the Redline can over for the ninth time, hoping for just one more hit of caffeine.
• When you just keep reading the same paragraph over and over again.

If you are a stress train wreck, here are some suggestions on how to unwind and enjoy the Entrepreneur ride:

• Stop what you’re doing, get up and go for walk
• Take a five minute mediation break
• Call a friend, your Mom, and get outside yourself
• Take the damn dog out for a walk
• Go make yourself a milkshake
• Put on a record and dance in your underwear
• Go soak in a hot tub

Break the pattern, celebrate yourself, find some balance.  You can do it, and you deserve it.

When I was a little girl, it was a happy day when I found a penny lying on the ground.  A penny was real money…it could buy bubble gum or five pieces of those wax candies with juice inside,  Better yet, it could find a home with other coins in my piggy bank.  It always seemed to me, to be a honor to find and pick up a penny.  It was after all, real money, real cash!  It was almost un-American to leave one lying there on the sidewalk, the Universe had given me a gift.

As the years have passed, the value of the penny has dwindled.  So much so, that I hardly ever see a penny on ground any more.  The Federal government still makes them and I see them in cash registers, but on the ground?  Not so much.  My guess is that credit cards and debit cards, and 25 cent pieces of bubble gum spell the end of the penny.

Today, it’s a different story.  We’ve forgotten the value of cash, in favor of concepts like balance sheets, and lines of credit.  After all, why use your own cash when you can charge it?  Don’t those big businesses depend on having oodles of credit?  Oops…that was yesterday.  The events of the last two years have put an end to easy credit, even for the big banks.  It’s not so easy to charge it any more.  Cash matters again.

So what’s an Entrepreneur to do?   Should we use cash to pay for things, or assuming we still have access to it, should we use credit?  The answers are not so simple.  Spending cash may make us feel legitimate, and it means that we don’t have to worry about big monthly recurring payments to service the debt.  On the other hand, using up all of your cash can be a real problem if you’re a small (or big business).  Cash is King and not having cash on hand puts a business at risk.

As I thought about it, I realized that the answer lies in the penny.  There’s no one strategy that will fit for everyone.  Some should use cash, and some should use credit.  Everyone, on the other hand, should respect, honor, and build up cash reserves.  Cash is good, cash is real, and cash can save the day. I’m grateful for every penny I pickup and I hope you will pick them up too.

Music takes us back in time and so does food… especially comfort food. Smart marketers know that in times of stress we will return  to the familiar with very little concern for cost.

Of all my favorite snack foods, chips and salsa reign supreme!  Because of this and being a graphic designer, I am very open to their homespun marketing message.

White Girl Salsa for me is comfort food. The combination of their retro logo and video, of  founder Julie Nirvelli’s darling daughter, makes me feel like I’ve been a customer of theirs for decades.  That kind of brand recognition is something big time marketers lust after and pay dearly to create.

Consider how your product or service can become Comfort Food.

Check out White Girl Salsa Facebook page and video …you have to see it!

The idea of having a family game night is nothing new. Families have been playing together since they could place stones in holes. However, modern families are competing with video games, web surfing and of course the television. Board games are no match for a virtual character traveling through time and space, collecting gold coins. It may take some convincing to bring your kids on board, especially the older ones. After time, you may find yours, like mine, actually look forward to a designated family time and you’ll no longer feel jealousy, or guilt as you walk down the game aisle of your department store. As a matter of fact my kids took me to Target last Mom’s day to buy me 2 new games to add to our collection!

Why start a family game night?

• Family time of course.
• Game play teaches sportsmanship and good healthy competition.
• Playing together promotes communication.
• Family game night is inexpensive. Traditional parlor games are free!
• (see below for suggestions)
• Family game night creates life long memories!
• Heck – it’s just good old fashioned fun!

GETTING STARTED

Set a consistent day and time. You’ll need to schedule 1 – 1 1/2 hours. If every week is difficult, try twice a month to start;mark it on your calendar and make it a priority.

If you don’t already have games in a closet somewhere, purchase a few to get started, and then gradually add to the collection. We like many games and have a fun collection. Our favorites…Scattergories, Monopoly, Abundance and our newest favorite since Mom’s day…Cranium Whoonu Game. Great game for kids 8 and up and a really fun way to get to know each other better.

Select games that everyone will enjoy. Often this is difficult if there is a large age difference between your children. Parents or older siblings canteam up with little ones or you can create a variation of a more challenging game.

Kids or no kids, schedule a game night, invite your friends and have some FUN!