The power of sharing!

One thing I love to do is to have a really great and open conversation with someone, where you are both really sharing what is going on for each of you. Something really powerful opens up when you share, you feel even more connected to that person and it changes the energy around what ever you are sharing. The more I share the more access to power I have to make my goals happen, I feel like something opens up in my heart and mind and it makes me feel alive.

I haven't always felt like this, I grew up quite shy and as an only child I am very programmed to dealing with things on my own and not needing anyone else. I remember in relationships when I was younger I was never very expressive of how I felt about people and don't think I expressed to friends how I was ever really feeling about things. I definitely never told my parents! Actually as I am writing I have just realised that the only place I used to really share was in my diary, I have written one since the age of about 10 and 3/4s.......as my earliest one states!! That must be why I love blogging so much, it's something I have always done in one way or another.

Over time though I have managed to grow my self confidence, by pushing through fears, and I have learnt how important it is to share what is going on for you with other people. Not only for you but by sharing people have the access to see things for themselves in what you are going through as well. There have been my times where I have been coaching people or just listening to others speak about what they are going through which has then resonated with me. Where I can hear my dilemmas, fears and goals through other people. From hearing someone else speak about it a new perspective opens up and you also realise you are not the only one going through such an experience.

I am talking about all of this as this week I have been privileged to meet up with some fantastic ladies at my networking group, More to Life Than Shoes, and we all really shared what is going on for us. I also had a great catch up with a good friend yesterday who I hadn't seen for ages so we had lots to share. Many people I am meeting at the moment are going through a state of change, I am not sure if it is to do with the economy or if it's something else but everyone seems to be questioning their lives and looking at making big changes.  So if you are sat in this space now please know you are not the only one!

So in the spirit of sharing, here are a few things that are going on for me right now;

1. I am now running my business 100% full time and planning to work/travel around India for 6 months in October.....this is very exciting but also I have the fear every now and then of "where is my money coming from?" Instead of paying attention to this though I am instead focusing on having a fantastic profitable business and having an amazing time in India!! Also constantly consciously bringing my mind back into the present moment, where everything is great.
2. I have a new relationship, since last year, we spent 4 great months getting to know each other and then he went back to Australia. I will see him again in June, after 6 months apart. It could be tough as there is the natural fear that we will be apart for longer than we have been together, anything could happen. As it is though I am choosing just to take each day as it comes and to enjoy carrying on getting to know him. As a result of this I actually feel like our relationship is growing stronger even though we are not together, which is really cool!
3. I really hoped for 200 people  on this challenge and am still way off achieving this, with just one month to go, I feel a little disappointed as I want to raise lots of money for Anna. This is not going to stop me though. Over the next few days I am really going to share about it and hopefully get some more people to join in the fun!
4. I am often in a rush, running around fitting everything in, feeling a sense of urgency to get things done and making myself tired. In this state of mind there just isn't any space to just be, to relax and also to really focus when speaking to people or on tasks I need to get done. So right now I am taking on "There is plenty of time, I am on time and there is space to be in the present moment".

So sharing is my focus this week for the challenge as I find it's easy to revert back to being insular and dealing with things on my own. I feel I expand so much more and feel so much more connected to people when we share with each other. Plus I feel touched and moved when someone chooses to share something with me, which is a great feeling to have!

Finally I have a little request....if you are enjoying the challenge or even just reading the blog please can you share it with your friends just incase they would like to sign up too! The more we spread the word the more people can be doing things that make them smile each day :-) The link to sign up to the challenge is create a life you love

Thank you!!

xxx

Love and Connection

Hi All!

Hope you are all having fun doing things you love!

This weekend I am focusing on catching up with people I have not seen in a long time. I have been really focused on my business these past couple of weeks so I have arranged to see as many people as possible this weekend to feel that lovely sense of connection with the people I love!

One of my best friends is coming down from Liverpool today so we are going for lunch soon. Then straight from that I am going down to Sussex with an old school friend to stay with another school pal, I will be armed with Pretty Woman, Grease and Sex and The City DVDs for a proper girlie night in! Tomorrow I am catching up with another fab group of friends in The Calf pub in Clapham......love a good Sunday Pub session, yipppppeeeee!

Love and connection is one of our 6 human needs which just shows how important it is to make time for it no matter how busy you are.

Have fun weekends!

xx

This is just the beginning.......

I was just sat here pondering what to do today for the challenge and realised actually with out awareness everything I have done today has been something I love doing and that I am actually totally in the middle of creating my dream life right now, it's happening all around me, it just doesn't feel quite like it just yet. Sounds a bit cryptic, let me explain.....

I started this challenge to raise money for Anna's amazing charity and event plans in November. My business is all around helping people go for what they want in their lives so it is already my passion. The week before the challenge started I found out my key stream of income, coaching and training part time with in a business, has dried up. They are cutting costs and I no longer have regular work there. Luckily for me I still have my own business and clients but it still isn't a guaranteed income. Anyway this shift has caused me to think, well maybe now is the time to radically shake up my life, I help other people do it and now it's time for me!!!

As a result of this I am currently consumed with "what's next?". It is incredibly exciting but also incredibly scary as it feels totally out of my comfort zone.  I know I have been playing a  bit small though and I think now is the time to start to play for my dream life! I may even be leaving London for a while and following my dream of spending 6 months in India. How perfect is the timing of this challenge, and I promise I had no idea this was around the corner.

I will reveal what the new plans are as soon as I have actually decided on them but in the mean time things I have been doing that I love over the past couple of days are:

• I ran my last time management course for team leaders yesterday and I received some great feedback after it, it feels amazing to have hopefully made a bit of a difference to someone's day.
• I went on a last team lunch yesterday and we ate somewhere new that I had always wanted to try, it was delicious and of course I had fab company!
• Last night I had a good cry and then enjoyed putting the world to rights over a bottle of wine with a great friend from college days.
• I was up at 6 this morning working on my new ideas, sending emails, checking social media - love all that!
• I chatted to my boyfriend who is in Australia, what a brilliant invention Skype is!
• Had a very hot and sweaty yoga class
• And now the afternoon is for blogging and learning more about my new business idea.....which actually is all about blogging and making money online.

So all in all it's a very exciting time!

xx

Beach time!

I've been having a lovely weekend down with my parents, and then catching up with a good friend I haven't seen since last summer! Below are some pics I have snapped from last nights sunset and a walk on the sand this morning.....bliss :-)

Next on the agenda is baking a chocolate cake with my mum this afternoon.....I don't think we have done that together since I was about 10!!

xxx

Day 3....allowing myself to stop!

Before I start I just have to say.....Tiffany your cats are GORGEOUS!!! I tried to add a comment but for some reason I couldn't write anything, hope that fixes itself soon! But they really are so beautiful, awww!

Well my first little treat was a Cadbury's cream egg today, the first one of the season! I try to leave it as long as possible usually and once the seal is broken there is no turning back. It was indeed very yummy, although must say Maltesers Bunnies are big competition this year :-)

After scoffing the egg I spent my lunch break on the search of someone to compliment, I just thought it would be a nice thing to do, it was fun I felt like I was on some kind of make over show running around undercover checking out what people were wearing!! When I did find my lady she looked rather chuffed to be told how lovely she looks.

I've ended up going for a triple whammy and have decided to give myself a night off tonight, instead of planned yoga and then work I am going to turn the laptop off after this, have a long soak in a bath and then read my book....(and not feel at all guilty!).....bliss.

Good night! x

A new idea is formed!

Yesterday whilst musing about what could be my next big challenge I thought about what I could do that is really at the core of my being; people living lives they love. This is the ethos of our whole company, Create Yourself. It's all about helping people to live lives they really love, every day.

So it was then I came up with the idea of a Create Yourself charity event, something that gets people in touch with what they love to do and helps raise money for a great cause. Recently I met an incredible lady, Anna Wallace, who has just got through an extremely rare type of cancer. She is dedicating the next year to putting on a 3 day event next November called Living Beyond Diagnosis. It’s for people who have been affected by breast cancer to give them all the information they need that the doctors don’t tell you about. Stuff like diet, image, dealing with your friends and families reactions, your body changes and so on. The mission is to empower the survivors and connect them with people going through similar experiences to build a strong community of support. She is really thinking big and wants to try to get the likes of Kylie and Gok Wan to speak. Just while I was thinking about this she actually emailed me yesterday afternoon asking me if I would do some style sessions at the event next November?! Love it how people get in touch when you are thinking of them, so I took this as a sign and emailed her about my idea to raise money to help her put on the event and she loves the idea!

My idea so far is that the charity event will be the celebration party at the end of a challenge. The whole idea is people living lives they love so from 14th February (a day all about love!) the challenge will be to do 1 thing you love/makes you smile every day for 2 months. You'll be asked to write regular blog posts on here to share your journey and inspire others.

At the end of the challenge in April we will put on a big party to celebrate your achievements. We will ask for some people to stand up and share what they got from it. We'll also also arrange a speaker or two to share their inspirational stories of creating lives they love. Then there will be a prize draw for everyone who has taken part and completed the full 2 months, the winner will win a full Create Yourself package of a 13 session life coaching course, 10 personal training sessions and a full image consultation, worth £1364.40. There will also be a raffle to win other fantastic donated prizes such beauty treatments/ haircuts/ yoga sessions etc. (All to be confirmed!)

The money from entry to the challenge and the raffle on the night will all go towards putting on Anna's event next November, to ensure attendees pay very little to attend the event (many suffer financial hardship because of their diagnosis).

So this is my idea so far, my new blog has been set up and we are in the process of setting up a new website to promote this. I am excited and full of anticipation of where this project is going to lead, above all I know it's going to be a lot of fun.

xxx