The Happiness Project

   

 The Happiness Project

     Part of my coaching this year is to do my own Happiness Project.  We were asked to start off our session by reading “The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Ruben”.   This book is a 12 month approach to increasing happiness in your life.  I encourage everyone to take some time to design their own 12 month journey to happiness.  This is the layout of my Happiness project which will start February 1^st 2016. 

February = Kids & Family! 

My Happiness project starts with creating love and peace in the home.  As a working momma, I can get moving pretty fast.  By moving too quickly, chaos tends to erupt and so my family needs peace.  

- Move more quietly.  In the morning as we race for the car and in the evenings when we get home from school & work, I will move at a slower pace.  I will remind the family that we have a peaceful home.

- Wake up the kids in a fun way.  I will also wake up 30 minutes earlier.

- I will use better language and be mindful of the kids being around when talking to other adults. 

- Listen from a loving space. 

- Have game night each week.   

- Emphasize exercise and do it with the kids. 

- More hugs and teaching moments.

March = Movement.

-Stretch every morning after my shower. 

-Walk the dog every day with the kids.

-Attend 1 yoga class a week.

-Ride my bike places

April = Cooking. 

-Start with a salad.

-Create a new dish 2 time a week

-Eat at home 

-No coffee on weekdays

-Start the day off with Lemon water

-Eat smaller amounts of amazing organic ingredients

May = Self-Care.

-Get a holistic treatment each week

-Get to sleep by 10:30pm

-Create a space for myself and go there

June = Spirit

- Meditate with Gratitude each morning as I am stretching before the kids get up.

- Get an Energy Session monthly

July = Get out into Nature

-Take a hike weekly

August = Organize and Declutter

-Clean out the cluttered Closets and corners. 

-Feng Shui my house 

-Clean up before I go to sleep

-Make the bed each morning

September = Community

-Get involved in kids schools 

-Get kids into community service of some kind

October = Friends & Fun

-Make time for Friends/ come up with a new way to engage

- Try a new restaurant each week

November = Enjoy Now

-Ask for help

-Take things in stride

- Release control

- Be Present & Thankful

December = Play

- Take time off

- Focus on Family

- Pat myself on the back

January = Work

- Create something new

- Let go and Delegate

     Each month I will write more detail of my project and I am sure things may change bit as I go however I am looking forward to the challenge and to see if I can change some old habits and create new ones.  

That good ol Entrepreneurial Spirit

About 2 years ago, I declared something out loud that I have always know inside.  “I am an entrepreneur and I will always be”.  This may not seem like a big deal to most but when you finally say it out loud all of the other possibilities finally dissolve away.  Like the idea of creating a resume again… GONE.  I am a great employee, with only one problem.  I will spin my wheels trying to figure out your business so that I can start my own.  Once I said it out loud, the game changed.  

I looked everywhere, started a business each week and as any true entrepreneur would tell you, I never give up.  I may switch tracks but giving up the idea of achieving success was not an option for me.  I have drove everyone crazy, created havoc in my relationships but the drive to succeed at something I loved encapsulated every inch of my being.

So this week I was challenged during my coaching session to discuss how as entrepreneurs we are all sailing into the unknown, how I create something out of nothing, how this makes me feel and where do I get my inspiration/confidence.  So I will do just that. 

First, when asked to talk about my business endeavors I immediately feel excited.  Glad you asked and I could shout from the rooftops.  I am actually even surprised at how I am feeling now, like a puppy waiting for his owner to walk from the car to the front door.  So is it confidence? No, it is defiantly more inspiration and the drive comes from within.  My desire to create something and bring it to form and then make money at it is grand.  Sailing into the unknown is a much a part of me as the color of my eyes.  Taking risks is what I do.  I ask myself, would I rather try and see what is on the other side or fear failure of some sort and cheat myself out of life?  Maybe my inspiration is living life to the fullest and not seeing limitations.  Confidence is conviction for me, not doing is the undoing and believing in my ability to provide service is my drive.  

This brings me to the next idea, which is my relationship to money.  Some may see my entrepreneurial spirit as money hungry or materialistic, but I assure you they are not.  It is simple for me Money = Freedom. 

I am not sure that I have an amount directly tied to how much I need, I rather say… My bills are paid without worry, I can afford to go out to eat with my family, ball games, occasional babysitters and travel.   I want to be able to afford organic and natural foods and have ready to eat goodies from Whole Foods awaiting my children after school in the refrigerator.   Oh and I could go skiing with the family a few times a year, after all we are in Colorado. 

Now the freedom part, what do I do all day?  Whatever I want and I love every minute of it.  I can’t say there is a part of my day that I do not enjoy especially since I have finally found my passion in work.  My day is talking to people, creating tinctures & oils, having lunch, organizing staff, giving or receiving bodywork and solving problems.  A wise woman “my mother” once told me that being an entrepreneur was all about solving problems.   “Ding” the light went on.  From that moment I felt a real change in how I handled the day to day especially on an emotional level. 

Now today I may sound like I really have my shit together, however I am turning 40 in March and I have plenty of experience under my belt.  The difference today is that I am doing what I love and I know what I will be doing for the next 10 years.  My dreams, my visions are becoming my reality and more importantly I deserve it.  

Finding Happiness in the Weeds: Living my dream

Finding Happiness in the Weeds: Living my dream: I guess now is as good as time as any to start a new blog.  If you were following my blog  Jill In Brazil  in the past, I thank you.  That ...

Finding Happiness in the Weeds: Fearless Honesty

Finding Happiness in the Weeds: Fearless Honesty: So week two of my blog, the topic I was given was fearless honesty.  By definition fearless is being Strong willed. Heart of gold. Beauti...

Fearless Honesty

So week two of my blog, the topic I was given was fearless honesty.  By definition fearless is being Strong willed. Heart of gold. Beautiful inside and out. Able to push through the storms of a shattered heart, broken spirit and tattered body emerging twice as graceful and independent then before.

Whoa! Hold the phone!  I am Fearless!  I read that and thought, could there be a better compliment in life?  Look life is going to throw us curve balls, strikes and strike outs.  I challenge that it is not about how we handle it in that moment that makes or breaks us.  That is where honesty comes in to play.  Are you honest with yourself in that moment?

How do you handle the hard moments?  I have acted childishly, like a total “B” and on many occasions I turn to my favorite, crying.  I love to feel.  I feel honestly and true to myself.   I keep it real but FEEL, there is no right and wrong in feeling unless you mask it or let someone else tell you how you should feel.    

I feel every emotion as if it were the last time.  How beautiful life is to give us these contrasts which we call emotions.  This is what living is all about.  So what I am getting at is it is not so much about if in that moment we rise to the occasion or not, it is about how we re-balance, gain our strength and then march on.  Do you come out stronger and see chaos as an opportunity or do you fall further into fear in order to protect yourself? 

In our fear based society, many of us love to say “my guard is up”.  “Every time this happens I build a wall”, well that wall you built is totally uncool.  It is self-destructive and only you are losing because of it.  It doesn’t make you stronger it weakens your heart, soul and brings about illness.  I tell my children, love hurts sometimes.  A broken heart is worse than the physical pain of a broken femur while waiting for the ambulance to arrive, because physical pain goes away, but that heart remembers.  Then I tell them that Love is worth it. 

So, How did this topic play out in my coaching session?  Well it showed me that leading with my feminine side is a strength yet to be cultivated in my business & showing vulnerability is not a weakness but a true asset.    

Living my dream

I guess now is as good as time as any to start a new blog.  If you were following my blog Jill In Brazil in the past, I thank you.  That blog was my savior in Brazil.  I learned so many things, but mostly that I wanted to keep sharing my stories in a bigger way.  It has been almost 4 years since I returned from Brazil and that 4 years was much more difficult than I could have ever expected it to be.  This blog is a tribute to that journey where I learned to go within to find happiness and self-healing.  In this blog we will explore together the fundamentals of self-love, self-care and self-healing.    

Living my dream

Since I was young I would ask myself yearly, what is my passion?  I was always searching for passion in my work.  I thought I was overlooking it, was I doing enough?   Divine timing is difficult for me, because as a Nebraskan surely if I just work hard it should come NOW.  So the answer year after year was “I am passionate about animals and traveling” and eventually as the years passed by I added children to the list.  And I did just that, I became a traveling Vet Technician in emergency clinics and finally landed myself in Alaska for 10 years. 

After opening and closing more entrepreneurial doors I held onto my dream, that I would one day find my passion in work.  Yes, I’m that gal that never plans on retiring, I just want to love what I do and do it the rest of my life.

My love is Aromatherapy, herbs, coaching and spirit so finally I quit my home services & construction business and went back to school.  Holistic Wellness became my heart and soul. It only took me 6 months to know that I would do this the rest of my life.  One day while lying in an LED light bed, I was led by spirit to take over the lease of a wellness center.  The wonderful women who were running the space were retiring after 11 years so, I said as long as my feet would continue to go down river I would stay.  I then filled the space and here I am 1 year later, ready to implement my vision. 

If you know me personally you already know that I usually hold nothing back.  This time I have taken on a 2300 square foot building with 8 therapy rooms and 2 meeting rooms with no real business plan other than holding my vision of a community healing space and creating fabulous products.   And so, the birth of Pathways Holistic Center & Apothecary.  We offer all types of healing modalities, an amazing group of world class practitioners, classes, workshops and an Apothecary full of organic and natural products for home and health.   Check us out online: Pathways Holistic Center Website

2016 is going to be a great year.  I can feel it.  One of the greatest parts of this coming year is that I was awarded into the 12 month Abundance Cubed Coaching program.   This program is going to change my life I can feel it.  I am 1 of 5 participants from all over the U.S. who were selected.  The program is about doing what you love and making money while doing it.  This is exactly what I need in order to accomplish my vision of building a self-healing community center in Fort Collins.  Knowing that this would start in January, I spent the last part of 2015 getting systems in order and redefining my vision. If you would like to follow along with us in the program please go to Abundance Cubed Coaching Page.

I would put 2015 in the tough year category, not only did I bite off more than I could chew in acquiring Pathways, but I was in school full time, mother of 2, running a new cleaning business and had another complete change in my personal life.  2015 was more about personal transformation and growth than it was ever about business.  So here I am, ready to take off and accelerate my passions in business, self-love, self-healing and happiness.  Lets take a journey together.