Categories
Feeling BLAH? Tired? Discouraged? Afraid? Then you're out of alignment, probably because you're not sharing the gifts and talents you've been given. Learn how to figure out what you're good at and then take the challenge to jump in and get started.
Best-selling author Danielle LaPorte shares why it's critical to exercise self compassion, self love and self respect as you walk your spiritual path and how we can deepen our devotion and service in this world when we do so.
Danielle LaPorte is an invited member of Oprah’s Super Soul 100, a group who, in Oprah Winfrey’s words, “is uniquely connecting the world together with a spiritual energy that matters.” She is author of White Hot Truth: Clarity for Keeping It Real on Your Spiritual Path—From One Seeker to Another, The Fire Starter Sessions and The Desire Map: A Guide To Creating Goals With Soul—the book that has been translated into 8 languages, evolved into a yearly day planner system, a top 10 iTunes app, and an international workshop program with licensed facilitators in 15 countries. Millions of visitors go to DanielleLaPorte.com every month for her daily #Truthbombs and what’s been called “the best place online for spirituality.” Danielle is a speaker, a poet, and a painter. In her spare time she is trying to perfect kale chips and hanging out with friends and traveling. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her favorite philosopher, her son.
Nuggets of Wisdom from Danielle:
"Your true nature is luminous."
"You're the guru. Few and external directions are good but the final say is with you."
"Happiness is feeling compassion for myself and compassion for other people."
"I don't spend a lot of time thinking what I could've done differently."
"This is all about being discerning, and getting to a place of real self love and self-respect."
"Deepen your devotion in everything you want."
"Self-love as a concept is really difficult for people to wrap their heads around."
"The term love, the idea, the notion of philosophy - it's so misused, overused, abused and misunderstood."
"Compassion is a lot easier for people to wrap their heads around. It's about loving what you want to criticize, and loving yourself when you feel you're most unlovable, and that is when self-love becomes the medicine."
"Boundaries are essential to being happy and vibrant and well."
"Find what works for you! If you don't like it find another way! Just experiment, just like food."
"You must have stillness in your life to be your most powerful self."
Some of Danielle's Favorite Things:
Personal habit: "I meditate everyday."
Easy meal: "Vegetarian tacos, cauliflower mash."
Favorite kitchen gadget: "Vitamix"
Dana's Favorite Books: "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life Book by Twyla Tharp" and "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't by Jim Collins"
Best advice received: "It's not my responsibility to make them feel good."
Danielle's Happiness Formula:
- "meditate"
- "obsessively text my girlfriends"
- "just be with my kid, no phone, and have a conversation"
A Challenge from Danielle:
"My invitation would be to do a list for yourself of all the things that you're doing, to be better, to improve... and stop doing one of those things. Stop doing that one thing that isn't lighting you up, that isn't really getting you results of freedom and joy and vitality."
Resources
White Hot Truth: Clarity for Keeping It Real on Your Spiritual Path—From One Seeker to Another:
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life Book by Twyla Tharp
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't by Jim Collins
Vibrant Happy Women Facebook Group
Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:
Imagine today is the last day of your life. You are standing on a mountain, looking bath at the winding path you walked throughout your days on this planet, and you notice your kids, your spouse, your loved ones standing there. What would they remember you for? What legacy are you leaving them?
Would they remember you as a person who is grumpy, frazzled and exhausted?
Or would they remember you as a vibrant, happy women who lived in alignment with her true purpose?
Think about your answer to that question and strive to live more in alignment with the legacy you WANT to leave.
And if you want additional help, Time Mastery for Women is open for enrollment. Time Mastery is an A-Z system that will help you create more time for the things you love, find your purpose and leave a legacy and enrollment ends on Friday, June 23 at 3 pm Central.
Class begins Monday, June 26th and if you're ready to change your life - in powerfully positive ways - Time Mastery for Women is the program for you.
Learn more here: www.timemasteryforwomen.com
Kate O’Brien and her husband Henare both grew up in toxic environments, leaving Kate saying, “I’ll never let a man treat me like that,” and Henare saying, “I’ll never let a woman treat me like that. Naturally fate brought them together and Kate has allowed their initially rocky 14 year relationship to help her become more self aware, more self compassionate and more accepting of her own humanity.
A visionary & global voice for bold leadership, transformation, playing it big & living from truth. Together with her husband Henare—they hold the space of Australasia's #1 Transformational Leadership Couple & produce the World’s Biggest Personal Development Summit, collaborating annually with over 100 of the greatest thought leaders of our generation - Jack Canfield, Gregg Braden, T. Harv Eker, Brendon Burchard, Marci Shimoff, Dr John Demartini, Dr Joe Dispenza, Michael Bernard Beckwith and many many more.
Nuggets of Wisdom from Kate:
"The risk is a game so I may as well just play it."
"We have a huge capacity for change, a huge capacity for love and a huge capacity to evolve."'
"It took my courage to skip stepping through that door on a moment to moment basis"
"The biggest thing that I've learned is that it's okay to feel like a total human being while you're also being extraordinary."
"When we go through changes, in that process we also have to allow space for the wobbles of those changes."
"We can just ride out all of the feelings that come with being human while we keep growing and expanding and remember to enjoy life."
"When we come back together we've got new growth, new eyes and energy to infuse that with our relationship."
"A lot of times in the world, we're trying to get rid of the things that aren't feeling good."
"[I like to remind] all people that it's okay to be human, it's okay to have all of these experiences, and it has absolutely zero reflection on how amazing you are or what you are up to in the world."
"Have compassion for ourselves, and we can usually shift out of that away more faster."
"We are the solution. It is not the strategy."
Some of Kate's Favorite Things:
Personal habit: "Connecting into myself. And a cup of tea."
Easy meal: Smoothies, protein powder.
Favorite kitchen gadget: Blender.
Kate's Favorite Books: Spiritual Partnership: The Journey to Authentic Power by Gary Zukav
Best advice received: "Be yourself!"
Kate's Happiness Formula:
"Passion +truth + commitment."
A Challenge from Kate:
"After this [interview], please stop, close your computer or your phone. Go and walk into a bathroom and look into the mirror. And when you are looking into the mirror, just notice what's in your head. Do you feel really comfortable and friendly with that beautiful person in there? Or do you feel a bit awkward? Or do you feel resistant, judgmental. Do you feel guilty? Whatever comes up, if it doesn't feel loving, that is the place you go to, to bring the love. "
Resources
Spiritual Partnership: The Journey to Authentic Power
Vibrant Happy Women Facebook Group
Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:
Tired of doing everything around the house? Wish your kids and spouse would do their fair share? Grab your free kids' chore chart at www.jenriday.com/chorechart and watch the accompanying video so you can learn the exact system I've used with my 6 kids for the past 5 years or so. It works. And we've STUCK WITH IT! :-)
After you grab that, take it to the next level and start establishing your own morning routine that will fill your cup for the day... increasing patience, productivity and boosting your mood in the process. You can't beat that trifecta of amazingness... and it all starts with taking time to take care of YOU. Get the SEVEN app and start doing the things that feel AMAZING!
Click here to grab your free Kids Chore Chart!
In a society dominated by social media, many women long for deeper friendships. In this episode best friends and clinical psychologists Dr. Sanda Bernstein and Dr. Wendy Rapaport share some stories from their 40-year friendship and their book, Friendship Matters: Memoir, Life Lessons, Laughter. If you want to build and strengthen your friendships, you’ll love this episode of Vibrant Happy Women.
Sanda Bernstein, is a clinical psychologist. She has worked in both school districts and universities. Dr. Bernstein is trained in psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, and as a school psychologist. She has a private practice in which she sees adolescents and adults. Married with 2 grown children and 5 grandsons. She lives in Manhattan. Wendy Rapaport, is a clinical psychologist. She specializes in psychology-related facets of the health-care field, working with providers and patients. She is an adjunct professor at the Diabetes Research Institute, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and at the University of Maine Graduate School of Social Work. She has a private practice working with people coping with diabetes. She’s married and a stepmother to 2 grown children and have a granddaughter and a great grandson. She lives in Maine for part of the year and Florida for the rest of the year. They met at a lecture when they were college-aged and Sonda was pregnant and had to go to the bathroom and they chatted the whole time and never stopped talking. They just released a book together called Friendship Matters: Memoir, Life Lessons, Laughter.
Nuggets of Wisdom from Sandy and Wendy:
"Do unto others as they would prefer you do unto them."
"We have to really know our friends, what would please them, because sometimes we find ourselves doing things that would please us, not them."
"If I'm not for myself, who will be for me? If I'm only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?"
"Do not procrastinate."
"I think women need to teach their men how listen to them better. I think that we need to talk better."
Some of Sandy and Wendy's Favorite Things:
Personal habit: Wendy: "I like exercise." Sandy: "Not thinking that I know all the answers for myself but reaching out."
Easy meal: Sandy: Taking in from the local gourmet market where they have fresh salmon everyday and fresh turkey and fresh spinach pie.
Wendy: candy, cake and ice cream; take-out delivery.
Favorite kitchen gadget: Wendy: Telephone. Sandy: microwave
Favorite Books: Wendy: Little Women. The Prince of Time; Sandy: Americanah Novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Best advice received: Sandy: "Don't let fear stop you." Wendy: "Honoring my independence."
Sandy and Wendy's Happiness Formula:
Sandy: First is the importance of staying connected with the people I love. Then I want to stay engaged in activities that are meaningful to me. And the other is slowing down to stay appreciative of the world around me. Just appreciative of life.
Wendy: On a couch with a good enough poet - poetry
A Challenge from Sandy and Wendy:
Sandy: "Read a book. Get a friend and deepen that friendship. Be more connected with your friend. I want to challenge everyone to connect better to a friend."
Wendy: "Do it consciously, because good manners come from practice and habit. I challenge you to make a good friend even better."
Resources
Friendship Matters: Memoir, Life Lessons
Americanah Novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Vibrant Happy Women Facebook Group
Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:
Do you have a relationship that seems more challenging than the others? Maybe it's with a parent or a child, or with a coworker or a neighbor. In this Happy Bit you'll learn 3 easy tips to help you improve that challenging relationship.
This episode is brought to you by Audible and you can get a FREE audio book using my special link: vibranthappybook.com. It's time to make all that summertime driving a little more entertaining.
The 3 easy tips to improve a challenging relationship:
- Write down 10 positives about that person.
- Do something kind for them every day. We love those whom we serve.
- Say something kind to or about that person every day.
Doing these things will help you brain shift into a place of positivity. Like attracts like. When you focus on the positive, your brain will find more of the positive. This happens because of your brain's Reticular Activating System, which filters information in a way to help you support what you believe. If you start to see the positive, your brain will give you more evidence of positivity. You have the power to make any relationship better. Empowering, right? You bet. That's what the Vibrant Happy Women movement is all about.
Want to hear even more about kindness? Listen to my interview with Shaunti Feldhahn.
Want to work on your personal development in a group of like-minded, amazing women? Ready to live your purpose and to spend more time living in alignment with your higher self - your BEST self? The Vibrant Happy Women Academy will help you make that journey with ease (and with some great friends along the way). Join us: www.vibranthappywomenacademy.com
In this episode Tammy Cannon shares her experiences of being a busy, overwhelmed mom of 3 kids under age 3 and how learning to ask for help made all the difference in her happiness. Now, as a mom of 3 teens, Tammy does a fantastic job balancing motherhood with her love of learning, her creativity, and her desire to help other women create a business doing something they love.
Tammy Cannon is the owner of Cannon Social Media helping creative business owners leverage online marketing. Tammy lives in Snohomish, WA with her husband and 3 teens. In her spare time Tammy loves cooking, gardening, and hiking.
Nuggets of Wisdom from Tammy:
"Dom Perignon: Come quickly, I am tasting the stars."
"Happy accidents can happen at anytime and just to be ready for them, to be excited and curious about life because you just never know when something amazing is going to happen."
"I am a really curious person. I love learning... And so I just love life and being curious and being hopeful for whatever is to come."
"I realized at that time, I didn't know how to ask for help. Being a mother of 3 young children was not something that was modeled for me. I mean, my parents were working and I am an only child, and things were very quiet and organized, and I didn't have any relatives around me, to just kind of see what that looked like until a friend of mine, she is a few years behind me and having kids but once she started having her babies, I watched her really organize her life and asked for help when she needed it. So she got on care.com and got herself a house cleaner and a really good baby sitter, but not just one but a couple when that one didn't meet the time. She'd catch her date night with her husband. And so, I was looking at that and said, 'Wow, I just didn't ask for help.' I didn't recognize that I just really needed the help, but I do not know if it was ego or just not having you know the modeling for myself. I just didn't really know how to go about it."
"So, I think that it is really important that we have the confidence to actually create the things that we love and maximize that time, but there is nothing wrong with profiting from that stuff and actually starting you know a small business, a side business, whatever it is to you, be yourself. You know, give that time back to yourself. I mean, we give our time to our kids and our family, we volunteer, we are out and about. But to really sit and be creative, or to start something new just for yourself is pretty awesome."
"Recently, I have discovered that I really need to set boundaries around myself, and the boundaries are going to help me get more respect for my family and myself, respect in myself. And also confidence to charge what I work and to follow through with those boundaries."
Some of Tammy's Favorite Things:
Personal habit: "I love learning. So, I read a lot of books, a lot of blog articles. I take a lot of online courses. I just really love learning new things and learning how to apply them in my own life and then teaching them to other people."
Easy meal: "Quinoa salad. Quinoa grains that you cook really simply and then you ad red wine vinegar, like a little vinaigrette to it. And then you can corn sometimes, red onions, you just add in your veggies and then let it sit in the refrigerator. It is great for potluck, for just a side salad, for everything."
Favorite kitchen gadget: "Coffee grinder"
Tammy's Favorite Books: "Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss" and "Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty"
Best advice received: "That is the way it should be. We go through life not recognizing that we just need to dream big and go after it."
Tammy's Happiness Formula:
"Really just sitting down and breaking bread with friends and family is super huge to me. Combine that with learning something new. And a sunny day. And I am the happiest girl in the world."
A Challenge from Tammy:
"I would love for your listeners to download that freebie (5 Steps to a Growth Mindset) and fill it out and over the next 30, 60 or 90 days, pick one big hairy goal, one over-arching goal that you are trying to achieve. Fill out the worksheet and let us know what happened. I think that you are going to be surprised at how the worksheet's going to help. And when you focus on just one thing, over that time frame, you are going to see big things happen."
Resources
5 Steps to a Growth Mindset (freebie from Tammy)
Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Vibrant Happy Women Facebook Group
Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:
A listener recently asked, "Jen, what is your favorite quote, piece of advice, book, healthy meal and kitchen gadget? Also, I would love to know the standout personal development books you've read." I answer each of these questions in this Happy Bit.
Kirsten Tyrrel and her husband shifted from unemployed to making a 7-figure income in a matter of about 1 1/2 years. Learn how Kirsten was able to transform her life by changing her mindset and constantly focusing on education and goals.
Kirsten is a mom of three with a passion for having fun and raising her kids while building her businesses. She is the host of the Marvelous Mom's Club Podcast and she loves to have adventures and would rather talk to people more than anything else in the world! Kirsten lives in southern Utah.
Nuggets of Wisdom from Kirsten:
"We were not put on this earth to stand still. "
"Something that I really had to understand that if we are not moving forward we're moving backward because life keeps moving. And it's impossible to stay where you are. If you are not moving forward, you are definitely moving backward."
"Failure is when you stop trying."
"If things come so easily, you don't appreciate them when they finally come."
"Lesson:
- you can't control everything
- I learned that you can't do it all
- a little bit of patience and knowing that as much as I want stuff to happen, but as passionate as I am about making my dreams come true and about having a wonderful, adventurous life, I have to be patient with the ride and enjoy the ride as I am on it, instead of constantly looking forward to the outcome."
Some of Kirsten's Favorite Things:
Personal habit: "I love having my 10 minutes of quiet time or my 15 minutes of quiet time where I am shut off from everything."
Easy meal: "Curry. We just grill up some chicken and some vegetables and throw the curry sauce on it and put some rice in the rice cooker on it. It's like the fastest, easiest dinner." Trader Joe's Yellow Curry.
Favorite kitchen gadget: "Kitchenaide"
Kristen's Favorite Books: "Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill"
Best advice received: "There is a million ways to make a million dollars, and if you try to do them all, you won't make any money."
Kirsten's Happiness Formula:
"I am happiest when I pray, sleep, and play."
A Challenge from Kirsten:
"Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Realize that every single step you make in the right direction is kind of a pay-it-forward for your future self. If you are willing to do things and push yourself out of your comfort zone everyday, that result is so much more than you came and calculate right now. So, just get out of your comfort zone, do something good for other people and do something good for yourself and the results are going to be more than you can even comprehend."
Resources
Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success
Vibrant Happy Women Facebook Group
Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:
Sometimes when we're feeling overwhelmed and burnt out, we crave nothing more than a weekend getaway. But what if there's something that's just as effective and only takes as little as 20-60 minutes? There is: yoga. In this Happy Bit I share how yoga can help you let go of that frazzled feeling and shift into a space of calm alignment.
Want to feel more grounded, calm and aligned so you can more easily listen to intuition? Yoga will help, and quickly, too. Learn why the combination of breathing and movement will leave you feeling AMAZING!
Resources
Vibrant Happy Women Review of the Week
We all have numerous things we believe, but do we ever stop to think about where those beliefs came from and whether they serve us? In this fantastic interview with Elizabeth Rider we talk about beliefs, education, not quitting and the importance of ALLOWING things to happen with ease and flow rather than PUSHING things to happen.
Elizabeth Rider is a leading nutrition & whole living expert teaching women around the world how to become the healthiest, most successful people they know. In a world flooded with diet information, Elizabeth’s healthy recipes and straight-forward nutrition advice draw millions of inspired readers to her popular blog. Thousands have had success using her online programs, which include Clean Up Your Diet™, Purpose To Profit™ and The Wellness Business Bootcamp™. As host of Elizabeth Eats on Food Matters TV, Elizabeth is delightfully changing the way the world views healthy home cooking. She speaks on stages around the world and mentors scores of ambitious people each year to seek and live life on their own terms. As a Certified Holistic Health Coach (Integrative Nutrition) and accomplished online entrepreneur, cultivating a lifestyle of freedom and health is her religion. Elizabeth is a graduate of Cornell University’s Plant-Based Nutrition program, a TEDx speaker, and regular contributor to The Huffington Post. Her recipes have been featured on Shape.com, MSN, MindBodyGreen, Buzzfeed, Greatist and POPSUGAR among others.
Nuggets of Wisdom from Elizabeth:
"You are not your beliefs."
"We pick up beliefs in life as we go."
"When we believe something, we will subconsciously seek out facts to affirm our beliefs."
"For a long time, even for me, I wasn't willing to believe that we are not our beliefs, that I am not my beliefs. And when I made that turning point, It was like WOW."
"Because when we think that we are our beliefs, that'S where so much anxiety and discomfort and distress in our brains comes from."
"The thing that people don't realize is that what you accrue along the way, you can't even think of right now. You do not even know what it's going to be."
"I generally stay away from gluten and dairy. I feel like when I eat flour, it makes me feel really bloated. And when I eat dairy, it makes my skin break out."
"My life's mission is in my own personal life is to bridge that gap between really loving my food and making sure that it is serving me and not harming me."
"I really think that judgment is a mirror. And it's always a reflection of our beliefs."
"One of the biggest tragedies in life is people not who would not take action over the fear of being judged when the judgement is actually just a mirror of how they felt about themselves. You can change those beliefs."
Some of Elizabeth's Favorite Things:
Personal habit: "Not quitting. Knowing that instead of quitting you just have to find a different way."
Easy meal: "A smoothie. Red Thai Curry, easy to put together with coconut milk."
Favorite kitchen gadget: "Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron Dutch Oven"
Elizabeth's Favorite Books: "Change Me Prayers: The Hidden Power of Spiritual Surrender Book by Tosha Silver"
Best advice received: "I can't live if I care what other people think about me."
Elizabeth's Happiness Formula:
"Freedom plus allowing plus awareness plus ease."
A Challenge from Elizabeth:
"Write down your 5 biggest beliefs in life and understand where they came from. And then go read that post on the Oatmeal: The Backfire Effect (on the Oatmeal)"
Resources
Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron Dutch Oven
Change Me Prayers: The Hidden Power of Spiritual Surrender Book by Tosha Silver
The Backfire Effect (on the Oatmeal)
Vibrant Happy Women Facebook Group
Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:
I share the story of my 3-year-old daughter Cora's self destructive behavior (hair, stitches, scabs) and how we FINALLY stumbled onto a solution after weeks of thinking there WAS no solution. I relate this story to your life. Are their times you've given up? Well, don't. 99% of the time a solution will present itself IF you stay open. Learn how in this episode.
www.jenriday.com/happy62
Despite having a successful blog and business, Crystal Paine found herself feeling burnt out and not really excited about anything at all. So she made the choice to untangle herself from her business obligations so she could take a year of rest and have that time to pour into herself so she could better pour into others. During that year Crystal did things that brought her true joy, including spending time with her kids, completely overhauling her health and enjoying the freedom to be more spontaneous, adventurous and creative. If the idea of a year of rest appeals to you, then you're going to love this episode.
Crystal Paine a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, business consultant, and the founder of MoneySavingMom.com. MoneySavingMom.com was started in 2007 as an offshoot of a mommy blog Crystal had and has since grown to be one of the top personal finance blogs on the web averaging over 1.5 million unique visitors per month. Crystal lives in the Nashville area with her husband and 3 kids. Get Crystal's free 5 Days to a Better Morning series to learn how to start your day off on the right foot.
Nuggets of Wisdom from Crystal:
"Do what you can with what you've got, where you are."
'I wanted to say yes to my family, yes to fun, and yes to things that were going to scare me a little bit but hopefully help me break free from fears and anxiety and be able to just walk in more freedom in my life."
"I said yes to my health."
"When I broke free from not being dependent upon coffee to survive, then I realized that I felt so empowered in other areas in my life....I needed to break free from that because it was causing me to have anxiety, it was hindering my sleep, and that then was contributing to other health problems. But it was also that I was looking to this thing, this drink that I was drinking, to give me the energy to do what I needed to do, instead of just getting enough sleep and taking care of myself and eating healthy so that I could have the inner strength to do what I needed to do."
"I wanted people to see that I am not at all as brave or courageous as people assume that I must be, and that there's a lot of things like making phone calls or talking to people that I don't know well that scare me. But I have learned that the more that I make myself face those fears and do those things, the more that I feel empowered, and so when I step outside my comfort zone, the more that I do it, then over time my comfort zone moves, and I am able to then face more fears and go farther because I didn't just stay where it is all safe."
Some of Crystal's Favorite Things:
Personal habit: "Writing out daily to-do-lists. I’ve done for years and years. Google calendar for family, team. I brain dump everything into Google calendar as all-day tasks."
Easy meal: "Salmon, bake it in the oven, with brown rice with sweet potato fries and roasted broccoli. Salad with a homemade dressing."
Favorite kitchen gadget: "InstantPot"
Crystal's Favorite Books: Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living by Shauna Niequist
Best advice received: "Do the next right thing."
Crystal's Happiness Formula:
Getting enough sleep + allowing time to refuel + using talents and gifts to bless others' lives.
A Challenge from Crystal:
"Take time and make space in your life to breathe and refuel and take care of you."
Resources
5 Days to a Better Morning series
Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living by Shauna Niequist
Vibrant Happy Women Facebook Group
Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:
Are you looking for the "next step" in life? Wondering what your "big girl job" is going to be after sending your youngest child off to school? Wanting to change careers or do more of what you love? You're not alone! Most women want to find their purpose and passions, but they don't know where to start because they have no idea what they like to do. In this episode you'll learn the first step to figuring out what you're passionate about.
Ever wonder what you're "supposed" to be doing with your life? If there's some purpose you need to fulfill? You're not alone! We've all been there.
In this Happy Bit Jen shares a great tip for taking the leap into the unknown: Follow your Feelings. Our body has an internal GPS to let us know exactly what we should and should not be doing: our emotions. When we do what feels AMAZING, we're on the right track. When something leaves us feeling drained, that's probably not the right path. Follow your feelings.
Resources
When challenges come, we often launch into a state of stress and feelings of inadequacy. In this episode guest Kate Northrup shares why it's critical that we address the HOW of dealing with a situation more than the WHAT. Specifically, Kate believes we need to approach a difficulty from a perspective of love, positivity, presence and intuition. When we do that, everything else is easy.
As an entrepreneur, bestselling author, mother, and activist, Kate Northrup supports ambitious, motivated and successful women to light up the world without burning themselves out in the process. Committed to empowering women entrepreneurs to create their most successful businesses while navigating motherhood, Kate is the founder and CEO of Origin Collective, a monthly membership site where women all over the world gather to achieve more while doing less. Her first book, Money: A Love Story, has been published in 5 languages. Kate’s work has been featured by The Today Show, Yahoo! Finance, Women’s Health, Glamour, and The Huffington Post and she’s spoken to audiences of thousands with Hay House, Wanderlust, YouSANA Health Sciences, and more. Kate lives with her husband and business partner, Mike, and their daughter Penelope in Maine. Join Kate's FREE Sustainable Success Workshop to learn more about the art of balancing mothering and entrepreneurship.
Nuggets of Wisdom from Kate:
“The art of life is not in controlling what happens to us, but in using what happens to us.” - Gloria Steinem
"What I love about this quote is it really articulates what I have been learning, not only in motherhood, but also in business, which is that we cannot actually control what happens in our lives to a large extent, but we can control our response to it, of course, and we can use what happens as fodder for learning information, to change our course of action, and as an opportunity for growth. And so, this just deeply resonates with me for that reason. "
"It's not so much WHAT we do, it’s the HOW we do it. The HOW we do anything is really going to impact our results far more than WHAT that we actually do. We know that from sports psychology that the more awareness and the more consciousness we bring to our workouts for example, and the more presence we bring, the better our results will be."
"Part of what’s been really amazing about scheduling things according to my cycle and also being super clear on when I have childcare and when I don’t and when I’m working and when I’m not, has been that predictability. I find myself so much more calm."
"If we actually honor the gifts of the luteal phase, which is the slowing down, it’s a really great time to wrap up loose ends, to complete projects, to check things off your to-do list. It’s actually a super powerful time to address things, and get done."
"We can’t control the weather, we can’t control our children, we can’t control other people, we can’t control the economy, we can’t control the government… there are so many things that we can’t control, and yet all of us crave predictability. So, for me, you know, I really crave that."
Some of Kate's Favorite Things:
Personal habit: "Scheduling and calendaring. I think this is a theme of our conversation. I have kept a day timer. I started using a day timer when I was 14 years old. And just having things written down so I could look at the week and kind of know what it’s going to bring and design my life according to what brings me the most joy has been an ongoing habit my entire life."
Easy meal: "We always kind of have like chicken, organic chicken sausage of some kind in the fridge, because it keeps really well and my daughter really loves to eat it. So, if I just don’t have much time, I take a big huge handful of spinach and sauté it up with some organic chicken sausage, cut up in little pieces, and I eat that, and it’s delicious. And it takes me like 5 minutes."
Possession: "I really love my lemon squeezer."
Morning Elixir Recipe: warm water, juice from half a lemon, dash of cayenne pepper, 1/4 t. raw honey, 1 T. apple cider vinegar, and some grated fresh ginger.
Kate's Favorite Books: "Carry on, Warrior by Glennon Doyle-Melton and Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott"
Best advice received: "Read your baby, not a book."
Kate's Happiness Formula:
- Decide that you want to be happy.
- In the moment, whenever you notice that you are veering off ,which is really easy to do, and you’ll do it all day long, look for things in your environment that are pleasing to you, or that you could feel gratitude for.
- Breathing.
- Community. Having a tribe. Investing in the people that you love and those relationships because those bring the greatest joy.
A Challenge from Kate:
"I would like you to try looking at your schedule, and asking yourself if there is anything that you see in the upcoming week that feels heavy or feels draining to you like is it something that you just look at and, 'Uhhh, I don’t want to do that.' And if there is something, then I would ask you to look at it and ask could that thing be cancelled? Could it be rescheduled? Could it be shifted in some way? Could that task change? Or could it be delegated? Could somebody else do it?"
Resources
FREE Sustainable Success Workshop
Money, A Love Story: Untangle Your Financial Woes and Create the Life You Really Want
The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine
The Desire Map: A Guide to Creating Goals with Soul
The Healthy Godmother (Heidi Symonds)
Carry on, Warrior by Glennon Doyle-Melton
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:
Some of the world's most successful women, including Judy Faulkner, ranked No. 3 on Forbes' "America's Richest Self-Made Women" list, have one important thing in common: they know how to listen to their inner voice - their intuition, or instinct, or a Higher Power - and make confident, bold decisions with clarity and ease. And they DO NOT allow what "everyone else is doing" to sway their decisions. In this Happy Bit I challenge you to go inward and listen to your gut and allow that inner GPS to empower you to live a confident, unstoppable life.
Your challenge: whenever you feel unsure of what to do, or looking around at what everyone else is doing. STOP! Go inward and listen to God, or the Universe or your gut instinct to find out what YOU need to do.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic... join me in the Vibrant Happy Women Facebook group and share 1 thing you've learned recently as a result of slowing down and truly listening to that inner voice.
Make it a great week!
Resources
The Giving Pledge (Gates & Buffet)
Forbes "Richest Self-Made Women" List
We can transform our health when we follow the holistic approach of Aryurveda, the world's oldest healing system, which focuses on mind, body, spirit and the 5 senses. In this episode Ananta Ripa Ajmera shares that health is our birthright - our true nature - and shares numerous practices from her book The Ayurveda Way: 108 Practices from the World's Oldest Healing System for Better Sleep, Less Stress, Optimal Digestion, and More. Ananta brings home the idea that true health focuses on so much more than just our body and definitely includes elements of "healthy selfishness" and cultivating a relationship with our own higher selves.
Ananta Ripa Ajmera is committed to making Ayurveda understandable and applicable to a diverse, modern audience. She teaches Ayurveda lifestyle, stress management, and meditation at yoga and business conferences and for clients including ABC News, Stanford University, and the California probation departments. Ajmera studied yoga and Ayurveda with Acharya Shunya and serves as Branding and Yoga Studies Director for Vedika Global, Acharya Shunya’s school. Her writing is popular on MindBodyGreen, Elephant Journal, and The Huffington Post.
Nuggets of Wisdom from Ananta:
"When you sow a thought, you reap an action. When you sow an action, you reap a habit. You sow a habit, you reap a character. And when you sow a character, you reap a destiny." ~the Upanishads
"We are so often taught to believe that everything worth having in this life is somewhere outside, and it has to be attained by doing something. By affirming that actually everything that I am searching for lies within me, it's just a very empowering way to start the day."
"Ayurveda is the science of life. It is as old as life itself. Ayurveda looks at four dimensions of the human being: the body, mind, spirit, and the five senses."
"Ayurveda is defined as that science which teaches us how to distinguish between those actions that bring us joy and those that bring us sorrow. Because joy-filled actions are what give us health, and, you know, they define the joy-giving actions as those that benefit not only ourselves but others, so, compassion and service are actually an inherent part of the practice and lifestyle of Ayurveda."
"Health is your birthright. Health is your true nature. And I think, for me, being able to connect with that and being able to connect with the idea of freeing my spirit has been the key to developing the willpower and the strength to be able to make diet and lifestyle changes which Ayurveda recommends for being able to bring my body then into balance. For me the suffering that I had really started in my mind. And it started from just being disconnected."
"We kind of know that certain habits are not helpful for us. We know better, but we don't do better."
"Go slow. Really go slow and make anything that you choose sustainable."
Some of Ananta's Favorite Things:
Personal habit: "Waking up early by 6 o'clock in the morning."
Easy meal: "Khichadi. It is an extremely healthy recipe, and it's really delicious, and it is something that is particularly good in detoxing the body, so it's great in the spring season."
Favorite kitchen gadget: Magic Bullet blender.
Emma's Favorite Books: "Ayurveda Lifestyle Wisdom: A Complete Prescription to Optimize Your Health, Prevent Disease, and Live with Vitality and Joy"
Best advice received: "Give when feeling full."
Ananta's Happiness Formula:
"I'm happiest when I listen to my intuition."
A Challenge from Ananta:
"To really contemplate one thing that you would like to start to incorporate into your life to benefit your health, body, mind, and your spirit. And really think it through before you commit to it. So, don't make it like a New Year's resolution, but really commit to a mindful intention or resolution that you want to do. And then I challenge you to write it down, and then make that your first step to manifesting whatever your intention is, and revisit it, and rewrite it, and really, you know, take that one thing and plant it like a seed in the garden of your mind, and see what kind of beautiful flowers start to grow in your life as a result."
Resources
Vibrant Happy Women Facebook Group
Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:
You might know your happiness is important, yet you feel guilty taking time for yourself. In this Happy Bit I share an analogy that will help. Have you ever considered that women are like the sun? Learn how radiating more happiness will change everything in your "solar system."
Do you ever feel trapped by your busy life? Desperate for a little more freedom? Beth Kempton felt the same way. While pregnant with her second child Beth found herself completely burnt out and feeling trapped by her busy schedule. Beth arranged her affairs as they say, and took a 5-month break to relax. During this time she did a lot of thinking and figured out the 8 keys to finding freedom, which she shares with us in this episode.
Beth Kempton is a fierce champion of women living free and happy lives, doing what they love. If you were to read her resume from her early career it would include stints working for the UN and at many of the world's top sports events like the Olympics, hosting her own TV show, and the fact that she speaks Japanese, but the most important thing to know about her life now is that she is on a mission to inspire all of us to fly free. For the past six years she has run a company called Do What You Love which has helped thousands of people to create a life that makes them happy, through online courses and retreats. She is also a wife and mother of two sweet girls, and has recently become a Hay House author. Her first book 'Freedom Seeker: Live more. Worry less. Do what you love.' has just come out.
Nuggets of Wisdom from Beth:
"What you can do, or dream you can, begin it; boldness has genius, power, and magic in it." ~Goethe
"If you can see something in your mind's eye, then you almost already know how to do that thing. And when you really do that you become bold and you take those difficult steps and you start to see magic unfold."
"For the first time I could see what cage I was trapped in, what it was that was holding me back from the fuller life I used to know...I was just this shell of myself, feeling guilty all the time, not running my business properly, not being a good mother...I was never where I was supposed to be. So if I was playing on the carpet with my baby my hands would be in the game and my head would be in my inbox."
"What I discovered was that the key was taking my mind to somewhere where I could get head space and heart space."
"It was almost like I saw a free version of myself out in the world and I asked myself, 'What did she have that I don't have now?' And realized that it was space. She had a vast amount of space, both physical space in the places she was visiting, but also space in her day, space in her mind, quiet... And I had none of those things. I was very heavily pregnant so it wasn't really realistic to get on a plane and go to Siberia. But I thought, 'How can I make some space?' and I started really small with 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there... I would just go outside and stand on the grass and look at the sun or have a cup of tea and read Flow Magazine. And then that would build up, I'd go to a yoga class or spend half a day walking on the beach. And that made a big difference and I felt better."
Some of Beth's Favorite Things:
Personal habit: "I'm really bad at habits. I have a lot of good intentions. I think my lust for adventure and for wanting things to be fresh and new means I'm very, very bad at habits. But I do know that I'm much better in going through my day when I'm organized, so I do like to sit down and plan my week and have a moment of quiet with a cup of tea."
Easy meal: "Miso and rice. I lived in Japan so it's definitely my favorite."
Favorite kitchen gadget: "Rice cooker."
Emma's Favorite Books: The Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. Phenomenal by Leigh Ann Henion
Best advice received: "Moisturize your neck every day."~Beth's Mom "Keep your eye on the prize. Don't let other people's opinions of how big your idea can be LIMIT your opinion of how big your idea can be."~Lord David Putnam
Beth's Happiness Formula:
"Love + Adventure + Freedom."
"Happiness is something that happens on the side when you aim to feel free."
A Challenge from Beth:
"Ask yourself today what it is that's making you feel trapped and to take yourself to a place when you've felt free in your life and look at the difference and think what can you do right now, in this moment, to feel more like you did the last time you felt free."
Resources
Freedom Seeker: Live More. Worry Less. Do What You Love
The Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. Phenomenal by Leigh Ann Henion
Vibrant Happy Women Facebook Group
Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:
The sense of achievement and accomplishment that come with setting goals can be amazing... BUT it can also leave us feeling like we are always lacking something because there's always one more goal we need to work on. Learn how setting an intention is different from setting goals and how intentions can dramatically improve your joy in the journey (rather than always reaching for a new destination).
After a fantastic career as a high-level lawyer, a marriage that looked great from the outside and all the normal definitions of success, Emma Bell realized she wasn’t happy and that she didn’t even really know herself. In this touching episode Emma shares how she learned to be compassionate with herself and live authentically, which set off a chain of events that included becoming an authenticity and mindfulness coach, finding the love of her life (who complements rather than “completes” her) and having the thrill of helping hundreds of other women make the same journey to self love.
Emma Bell lives in a beautiful Scottish village with her husband, Graeme, and her jack russell, Buddy. After seventeen years as a corporate lawyer, the high pressure/long hours culture forced her to realize she was a square peg squeezing into a round hole. She worked as a judge for seven years, during which time she published her book, The True You, and began coaching. She now pursues her passions of writing, teaching authenticity, and motorbiking with her husband around the world.
Nuggets of Wisdom from Emma:
"David Foster Wallace said, 'You will become way less concerned about what others think of you when you realize how seldom they do.' I just love that quote because it is a reminder to me not to waste a second worrying about what others think of me. You have to live your life with yourself first. I think being true to your values and your principles is what matters most, and it is something I spent 30 years learning."
"For me, it was the point which I realized I had absolutely no idea who I was, that was important to me. I realized I had been living according to everyone else's idea of success. So, that was really when I realized that I needed to get to know myself."
"I had always been so hard on myself. I was not working hard enough, or I was not trying hard enough or I was a failure or.... I started to change those messages... then self-care becomes a lot easier."
"Be clear about what success means to you. My definition of success is having the peace of mind of knowing that I have been the best of which I am capable in every single moment. I have given my full self, I have given my heart, I have given my love in every single moment. That is what success means for me."
"Every single day, just take one step toward your idea of success. Just do one thing that moves you toward your idea of success. And those are, for me, the daily rituals."
Some of Emma's Favorite Things:
Personal habit: "Mindfulness and getting up every morning and meditating."
Easy meal: "Salmon with mango and avocado salsa. Chop up a mango. Chop up an avocado. Put in some red onion. Get the juice of two limes. Cush it all together and serve it along side baked salmon."
Possession: "My husband. He is an awesome cook."
Emma's Favorite Books: "Wishes Fulfilled by Wayne Dyer"
Best advice received: "Emma, you can do everything you want- just not all at the same time. "
Emma's Happiness Formula:
1. Being mindful
2. Being authentic
3. Being self-caring
4. Being giving.
5. Being grateful.
A Challenge from Emma:
I would challenge your listeners to spend 10 minutes being mindful.
Resources
The True You - sign up and get a free copy of the Emma's book
Wishes Fulfilled by Wayne Dyer
Vibrant Happy Women Facebook Group
Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:
Got Overwhelm? In this episode Jen challenges you to become more of a minimalist and to begin the process of decluttering so you can have more energy for experiences and people you love.
Ever wish you had more friends who really had your back? In my interview with Lisa-Jo Baker you'll learn the secrets of being a great friend and developing friendships that stand the test of time and distance.
Lisa-Jo Baker has been the community manager for (in)courage, an online hoe for women all over the world, for nearly a decade. She's also the author of Surprised by Motherhood and her writings have been syndicated from New Zealand to New York. She lives just outside Washington, DC, with her husband and their 3 very loud kids, where she connects, encourages, and champions women in person and through her blog lisajobaker.com
Nuggets of Wisdom from Lisa-Jo:
"The shortest distance between strangers and friends is a shared awkward story."
"Time is a gift from God...If we really want to connect with our friends, we have to be willing to be inconvenienced. To make time. Because time is the thing we do not always have enough of. I spent the last few years working on this book. So, I have spent a lot of time studying Jesus' model of friendship. And the thing that is so fascinating to me is He was never too busy, and he was constantly interrupted by people."
"I think what we do not realize about friendship is if we want it to grow deeper, we have to be willing to be inconvenienced by the people around us. And sometimes that is just our own kids, but I think often on a day to day basis, what it looks like for me now is when a friend calls or messages or texts, the neighbor kids come over and knock at the door when I am making dinner, to open the door, to make time to stop what I think is really busy and important, for the people that are right in front of me. "
"I think you have to feed them (friends). They are like plants. They require water and sun and food and all that good stuff. Anytime we are not sowing into our friendship, then it has the opportunity to just kind of wither away."
"While it is good to remain intentional and that is what we do, I think it is also important to have an agreed upon breathing room. So what we say in our friendship is that we believe in guilt-free friendship, which means if you have not had time to respond to that email or that message or that group, or you have to miss the last gathering, nobody gets to call you out on it or be mad at you or make you feel guilty or be passive-aggressive towards you. Because friendship cannot live in that kind of atmosphere either. So, say I am looking for a friendship, that I am trying to be a friend, that's not your skinny-jeans version of friendship, but more like your sweat-pants version of friendship. That leaves room to breathe and to connect."
"When our friends know us, they love us for who we are, not some version of ourselves we are trying to pretend to be. And so being honest with who we are is a gift that we give our friends. And being in a healthy place and being a friend to ourself first, I really do think is what enables us to be a good friend to others."
"It should not be easy to unfriend people... The reality of friendship is that it happens on a slow daily basis between small groups of women who do life together, and that there is such a reward in that."
Some of Lisa-Jo's Favorite Things:
Personal habit: "I am okay with there being a certain degree of chaos in each of my children's bedrooms, but I need the main living area to be cleared off every night. I cannot handle it if we go to bed with chaos there."
Easy meal: "The Four Ingredient Cookbook. Crunchy Oven-Roasted Chicken. Chicken breast covered in smashed up cornflakes and baked in an oven for an hour. "
Possession: "Milk Frother - $7. It is a little hand-held one. $10 Stainless-steel milk jug."
Lisa-Jo's Favorite Books: "Trilogy: The Riddlemaster of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip"
Best advice received: "You think love is a feeling. Love is not a feeling. Love is a choice."
Lisa-Jo's Happiness Formula:
"I am happiest when I am by myself watching Netflix alone. I am happiest though with a few very good friends who know me inside and out."
A Challenge from Lisa-Jo:
"What is one thing you could do to be inconvenienced this week for someone else?"
Resources
Trilogy: The Riddlemaster of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip
Vibrant Happy Women Facebook Group
Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:
Want to increase self love, self worth and happiness? Then you've got to let go of that emotional baggage. I tell you how in this Happy Bit.
jenriday.com/detox