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I just received some news this morning via email that has thrown me off my game. I am bummed out. In the pits. Disheartened. Discouraged. Clouded.

I have been working on my book for a few years. It has taken a few years for many different reasons, but it was ready to be published in October, a mere 7 weeks away. Like the good girl and hard worker I am, I have met every deadline that my publisher has asked me to meet and have even met some earlier than requested. I’m a really hard worker.

Th…

Change Your Thoughts by JayWillis1

Except for the baby stroller her nine-month-old daughter Jessica was in when she was on her daily run, my friend, Joanne, lost everything she owned in the Oakland hills fire 25 years ago, on October 20.

When she was able to get access to her home, several days after the fire began, all was gone. Everything. The house, her clothes, Jessica’s toys, her photos, her books, all her furniture, her dishes and pots. Everything. There was nothing that could be sav…

New Year’s Resolutions. The concept drags me down.  The word resolution is bad enough. It’s defined as ‘a firm decision to do or not to do something’ and ‘the action of solving a problem, dispute, or contentious matter.’  There’s a fist-y feeling, hunker down, and just do it power that I feel when I say the word out loud.

So this year, I’m dumping resolutions. I want to turn to the more positive way of looking at these.

I looked up the synonyms for resolution: and found a few that I’m adop…

I have a new identity. It’s not a whole new identity. It’s a new little piece of my identity.

Actually, it is a pretty big piece of my new identity.

When people now ask me “What do you do?” I can answer honestly and openly, “I am an author.” GULP! Wow! Did those words just come out of my mouth?

Photo by Joanna Penn

Yes, my book, Gutsy Women Win: How to Get Gutsy and Get Going will be launched on January 17, 2017.  It was quite a long process with so many stops and starts along the way and ma…

It’s out! My book, Gutsy Women Win: How to Get Gutsy and Get Going is in the world! After years of start/stop my book has launched. What a funny phrase to use for getting a new book out: Book Launch.  One definition of launch is: "set (a boat) in motion by pushing it or allowing it to roll into the water.” Defined that way, it’s understandable as launching a book is setting it in motion by pushing it and allowing it to roll, but not in water, please.

A friend who is an author many times over…

"If you are distressed by any external thing, it is not this thing which disturbs you, but your own judgment about it. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now."

~Author Unknown

Photograph by Dori Devlin

Let's face it. Stress is really hurting us. If you don't think so, look at the following statistics from the American Psychological Association.

Three quarters of Americans experience symptoms related to stress in a given month:

• 77% experience physical symptoms

• 73% e…

10. There is no such thing as your “permanent record”. So when they say they’re putting it in your “permanent record”, they’re lying.

9. Do not excel at the things you hate. Master your strengths. If you do, no one will care about your weaknesses.

8. Remember crappy experiences make for gutsy stories later on. Look for the perspective of the “You’re not going to believe this story…” factor.

7. Appreciate those around you. Tell them. Show them.

Break Through from Your Mold by #So…

Inspire means to take it in, to inhale, to bring in that fresh new air. The opposite is to expire which means to die, to end, to quit.

You have a choice as to whether or not you want to inspire or expire. Which one is it? Do to want to bring in that fresh new air or end and quit and perhaps regret your decision.

I know, sometimes we do want to expire. We do want it to end, we do want to quit and we do want to just get over it. But sometimes it’s not that easy to ‘just get over it’.

I find t…

When doing this exercise, I ask that you try your hardest to have no judgment around your selection of values. I had a Judgment around one of my values for the longest time. When I first did this exercise years ago, I realized I valued recognition. I value being seen and acknowledged for the good things I do. Not bad, huh? EXCEPT, in my family I was always taught that recognition was bad; you want to be a part of the crowd and not stand out. Don’t be seen.

Don’t be heard. Well, eventually, …

I value words. I think they are important and because of this I am always looking up the meaning of them in the dictionary or looking for the right word to use in the thesaurus and here’s what I found about the word value:

noun: value; plural noun: values

1. 
the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. "your support is of great value"

Synonyms:

worth, usefulness, advantage, benefit, gain, profit, good, help, merit, helpfulness, …