Time to Make a Fresh Start?

Hello Beautiful...

Have you ever heard this quote?

"Every passing moment is another chance to turn it all around."  

This is a quote from Penelope Cruz in the movie Vanilla Sky.  It quote has stayed with me since the first time I heard it, years ago when that movie first came out.  

And honestly my friend, Every passing moment IS another chance to turn it all around!

If you stop to think about this for a minute, you know in your heart that it is absolutely true.  We are 100% capable of examining our lives and changing our habits and mindset any time we choose to do so.  "Not me", you say?  Well let me show you how.

Almost everything we do, every day of our lives comes from a choice we've made.  For example:

We choose to go to work.  Or not.

Choose to over eat.  Or not.

Choose to under eat.  Or not.

Choose to sleep in.  Or not.

Choose to stay up late.

Dress as though we do or do not care about how we look.

Choose to watch TV.

Surround ourselves with beautiful things.  

Surround ourselves with crap.

Choose to be happy.

Choose to do a good deed.  Or not.

Choose to over spend.

Everything we do as we move through every day is a choice.  And believe me when I tell you:  THIS IS GREAT NEWS!!!

Do you feel like you are living a life that is not quite up to what you desire?  Well, YOU get to change that!  Right now!

If your self confidence level isn't quite up to par, change it!  Dress better!  Put on some lipstick!  Get cute!  Read some news!  Learn something!  Clean something up!  Read something inspiring!  These are all things you can do immediately to improve your self confidence.  Every day, when you are getting ready to start your day, you are making these choices.  Why not make better ones?

This is how we create Beauty, Brains and Brilliance in our lives.  By making choices that lead us toward the life we desire.

Any given second, you can say, "I'm done being grumpy for today."  And find something that makes you smile or laugh.  Then practice feeling that happy feeling for the rest of the day.  Yes it takes practice, but it is so worth it!

Any given moment, you can say, "I don't want to be that person anymore." And begin to do things differently.  

Any given hour you can say. "I don't want to be the woman who over eats."  And you can decide to put off that snack for a while longer.

Any given day you can say, "I want to feel elegant from now on."  And you can begin planning the outfit and accessories and lipstick you want to wear tomorrow.

Any given week you can say, "Yes, I'm grateful for what I have, but this is not my dream job."  And quietly begin looking for something that lights you up!

Yes, these are just examples, but they are choices and decisions that you are making every day!  Good decisions or bad, whether they are on purpose decisions or subconscious decisions that you don't even realize you're making throughout your day.  You ARE making them.  

So now that the light bulb has gone on over that pretty little head of yours, don't you think it's time that you got into the Pilot's seat of your private jet and started mapping out your course, rather than living out of habit or default?  

Take the time to decide who you want to become.  Find 20 or 30 quiet, alone, uninterrupted minutes to contemplate this idea.  Once you know who and what you want to be, you can begin making daily choices that will guide you toward that place.  

In this day and age, and at our age, there is no reason for us to live an unfulfilled life!  We can be whomever, and do whatever we want to do!  So who are YOU going to be tomorrow?

Love,

Donna

PS.  Need a push to get you started?  Get these two books and you'll be well on your way!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s?k=donna+ferrante

And visit www.brilliancefactor.com

Let's work on this together!!!

1 Step to adding Beauty, Brains and Brilliance to your life. Part 3. BRILLIANCE!

1 Step to Adding Beauty, Brains and Brilliance to your life.  Part 3. Brilliance.

Do you FEEL LIKE being BRILLIANT today?  The reason I ask you this is to illustrate to you that being BRILLIANT on any given day or at any time of day, is 100% YOUR CHOICE.  

Every choice, every decision you make will create your day, and create the feelings you experience.    And those feelings will create your life!  So you must ask yourself this:  Will your thoughts create beautiful, empowering feelings?  Or will they create dull, negative, auto-pilot feelings?  And most importantly, what kind of life will those auto-pilot feelings bring you compared to the the life the empowering feelings will bring you?

Over the past 2 weeks we have discussed adding BEAUTY and BRAINS into your life, and we have found ways to do that by examining our behaviors and attitudes.  Hopefully you were able to choose something (or 10 things) that you could add to your life right away that result in BEAUTY.  And hopefully you have found several ways (or 5 ways) that you could use your beautiful BRAINS, as well!  

This week, we come to Part 3, which is where we talk about BRILLIANCE!   So let's dig in. 

The definition of BRILLIANCE is this:  "To shine brightly.  To act intelligently.  To utilize all of the facts available in order to make the best possible choices."  Does this sound like you?  If not, we have some work to do, my love!  Fun, glorious, empowering work!

In order to live your life with BRILLIANCE, there is only one step you must take.  And it is this:  TAKE ACTION!  Once you have narrowed down what it is that you want your life to look like, it is time to TAKE ACTION and make those things happen!

For example, you may have decided that you want to add BEAUTY by getting into shape!  You have used your BRAINS to decide that the best way to do that is to begin to work out.  The BRILLIANCE here is to TAKE ACTION by joining that gym, or scheduling time to begin running or walking. 

Another example, you may have decided that you want to add BEAUTY to your life by doing a better job of managing your finances.  (Been there!). You've used your BRAINS to get clear on what your expenses are and possibly even created a budget!  The BRILLIANCE here will be to stick to that budget!  Take action by scheduling a meeting with yourself once each week - or once each payday - to review your bills and expenses and spending habits to be sure you are on track.  

How about this:  You have decided to add BEAUTY to your life by paying more attention to how you look, how you present yourself each day.  You've used your BRAINS to clean out your closet, put outfits together and you've even gotten a makeup lesson!  The BRILLIANCE happens when you take action by making sure you allow yourself enough time each morning to get ready for your day!  

BRILLIANCE is all about showing up for yourself.  When you take the appropriate action to make the decisions you've made come to life, you are living brilliantly.  You are living your life on purpose.  You are designing your life and building it into what you truly desire.  

I remember a time, not too long ago, when I used my BEAUTY, BRAINS and BRILLIANCE in order to create something I truly wanted in my life.  I had made the decision to write my first book, which was a journal.  I had no idea where to start, but I was sure I wanted to do this.  So here is what I did:

BEAUTY:  I decided that creating this book was what I really wanted.  I wanted to write something and feel the sense of pride I knew I'd feel once I accomplished this!

BRAINS:  I needed to get in touch with someone I knew who had written several books.  She wasn't a close friend at the time, but I knew she'd help me.  I signed up for a class she was offering.  I invested the time and money in myself.  And boy, did I learn from her!!!

BRILLIANCE:  Once I learned what I needed to do, I took action and scheduled writing time into my planner.  I knew that if I scheduled the time, it would get done.  Then all I had to do was show up for myself at those scheduled times and the book would come to fruition.  

And it did. And was it perfect??  Absolutely not!  It was double the size I needed it to be!  As thick a book as Harry Potter!  But because I had gone through this process, I was able to go back through and rework it a little differently so it would come out to the perfect size!  

Yes.  There were days when I did not want to write, and in those days, I gave myself a break by not expecting too much progress.  I still sat down at my scheduled times and began writing.  Some of the challenging days resulted in 2 or 3 pages.  Other challenging days resulted in 50 pages.  But I SHOWED UP.  I TOOK ACTION!  And because In did that, I learned what I needed to know and I'm now working on my 6th book!

So tell me, what have you decided to do?  Have you begun to show up for yourself to begin to make it happen?  Do you need some help?  Well, I'm here for you.  

Love,

Donna

Just visit www.brilliancefactor.com or email me at thebrilliancefactor@gmail.com and We can talk about how we can work together to bring your dreams into fruition!

5 Steps to Adding Beauty, Brains and Brilliance to Your Life. Part 2 Brains!

Brains, baby!  That's what we're talking about today.  And I don't mean your IQ, either.  I'm talking about your awareness.  Your decision making ability.  Your environmental scan.  All of these things go into the discussion about BRAINS.

Are you willing to stop and THINK?  Many people just aren't willing to sit still for a few minutes and take the time to actually think about what they need, what they want and love.  These people are living their lives by default.  They are on Auto-Pilot, just going about their day moving mindlessly through tasks.  Going through the motions, not feeling much of anything.  Is this you?  No problem, my dear!  Perhaps it won't be you by the end of this post!  We can only hope!

When you take the time to use your beautiful brain, you will find that the world opens up for you.  Once you discover what you truly love, you can begin to bring those things, feelings, people and places into your life!  Sound good?  Let's get going.

The first step to using your brain is to recognize what is going on around you.  Pull yourself out of auto-pilot mode and pay attention!  Don't make any big changes right away. Give that computer in your head a few days to calculate what is happening in your life.  As you move through your day, pay attention to how you feel.  You might even want to pick up a journal to record how and what you are doing, as you begin to slow down and think!  You can get a kick-a** journal right here!  Write it all down!  What you are doing.  How you are feeling. Do you feel as though you are wasting time?  Do you LOVE what you're doing?  Do you HATE it?  How are you feeling in your surroundings?  Do you feel empowered?  Do you feel as though you are surrounded by beauty?  Comfort?  Keep track of all of it for at least three days.  Once you go back and review what you've written, you'll be able to make some decisions about what you REALLY want in your life!

The second step is to consider your decision-making ability.  Remember that like all of us, there will be a few things you cannot change.  Paying bills, working with your children, going to your day job, for example.  Well, you can't change them right away.  But I am here to tell you, there is ALWAYS a way to make an unpleasant task more enjoyable. Always!  Here are some examples of the types of decisions you will be making as you go through this process:

1.  Do I love my surroundings?  How can I modify them to reflect who I really am and what I love?  This is highly important!  This is where you create your world!  This is where you can change what you are allowing into your life.  We create beauty by managing our surroundings.  Maybe you can clean your house a bit better - or save up so a cleaning lady can come in now and then!  Maybe you should re-cover your sofa and chairs as a way of updating them.  Maybe you should replace that old poster of AC/DC that you have on your wall with something more beautiful.  Maybe you need to declutter your home.  Get rid of all the junk you've been accumulating!  Have a yard sale and use the money from that junk to update things in your home.  And remember, nothing needs to be expensive!  Go get a $5.00 bouquet at the grocery store and a $2.00 vase at the dollar store.  Instant Glamour!!!

2.  Do I love my job?  Some days, I'm sure you do, but are you doing what you LOVE?  Do you need to add a hobby into your life so you feel more fulfilled?  Do you need to look for a new job altogether?  Only you can make this decision, but remember, the world is your runway and you can make any decision you want to make!

3.  Are there other areas in your life where you are feeling depleted?  Do you need to find someone else to pick up your children from school?  Do you need someone else to do your shopping?  There are lots of online services that will send your groceries right to your home!  Yes, this will be more expensive, but would it be worth it to you if you didn't have to perform that task any longer?  Maybe, and that is a decision you have to make. These are decisions that you can make which will immediately impact your life!

4.  Do you need to go back to school?  Finish your degree?  START on your degree?  No one ever said you have to go full time, even taking one class at a time will give you the feeling of making progress!  If this is something you are interested in, begin looking into it right away!  It's NEVER too late to start.  (I did the 25 year part-time plan!)

5.  Which other areas of your life are in need of some decision making TLC?  Make yourself a list of what you've chosen.  Prioritize that list and make some decisions!  YOU CAN DO IT!  And the more decisions you make, the easier it will become to continue making them!

Now, let's quickly discuss your environmental scan.  I have a friend who makes me laugh every day.  Any time I am with Libby and someone would act oblivious, extra loud, or otherwise inappropriate, she would say they had no environmental scan.  That has stayed with me for years.  Do you have a good environmental scanner?  Do you walk around in a daze, bumping into furniture, tripping over nothing (I've done this!), being too loud because you haven't noticed what is going on around you?  Now, I'm not saying don't be yourself.  I'm just saying be aware of what is happening around you.  For example, it would be horrible to tell a risqué joke at a funeral.  It would be horrible to laugh excessively loud in a hospital or a library.  Once you learn that your environmental scan is your friend, you can use it to determine what you love, who you love, what you don't love and what you do and do not want in your life.  Your environmental scan is your ability to pay attention to your surroundings.  For your sake and the sake of others, please develop your ability to pay attention to what is happening around you!  

I am putting this information under the category of Brains because I believe that if you pay attention to what is happening, you'll be better equipped to make decisions and move yourself forward - towards the life you've always wanted to live.

I have a feeling that once you begin to stop and take the time to think about what you truly want your life to look like, the steps to create that life will become clear to you.  And once you begin operating this way, aware of your environment, using your brain, you'll find more and more things that you are capable of doing that you never thought about before!  All it takes is a little time and a little brain power!  You are WELL-EQUIPPED, so let's get going!

Love,
Donna

PS.  If you would like some more information and inspiration, please visit my website:
www.brilliancefactor.com where you'll learn how you can work with me to start taking action on creating the best life possible!

And please leave me a comment below.  I'd love to know what you think about this post!
Stay tuned for next week's Part 3.  BRILLANCE!!!