Finding the joy!

For most of you who have followed me for the past few years, you know that I'm always on the lookout for simple effective strategies to improve the quality of life for myself, my friends and family, for students/teachers and those I teach both in my seminars and online. The  good news is there always seems to be more to learn and share.  Here's the latest...personally tested as always, simple and effective as promised.

What is it?  Be on the lookout for joy.  What?  Joy? Yes...things that make you happy.  As you drive to work, look for things along the road you like.  For me now, the green of the trees after a long winter, the flowers everywhere, a car I like, maybe a beautiful building. Or it's a song that comes on the radio or my CD or for me another strategy on a motivational CD that helps me see life in a totally new and inspiring way. Those are mine.  What can you collect starting now?

Basically you're like the opposite of Santa.  Instead of giving great gifts, you're collecting them. You're collecting things you like in your mind and as you collect them, you feel better because your brain is focused on appreciation.  So instead of all the things that annoy you about your significant other, all the things you don't like at your job, all the things you don't like about yourself, you're thinking and enjoying and collecting what you do like. Since, your brain can't think of opposite things at the same time, it's perfect!  Make sense?

Try it.  Try it starting first thing in the morning if you can.  This is positive thinking at its best because you're training your brain to look for the what's good, to send out spirit lifting hormones that make you feel even better. You start a chain reaction just like when you start the day on the wrong foot and say something like, "It's going to be a bad day." And then it is. Same idea, bad momentum. We've all done it.

I woke up early today but happy and inspired after a week of putting this into practice.  I couldn't wait to share it with you. 

Sending and wishing you lots of joy!

Glad it's spring...not yet summer

Brr...it's spring!  So happy it's finally here even though we've had some very chilly mornings in New England.  I'm just happy it's not winter!  It's also not summer yet and I'm happ about that too because once summer hits, it seems tofly by and before you know it, we're approaching winter again.  Let's not rush that!


Glad we have spring to gear up our anticipation for summer, get the things done that summer days pull us from and that winter days didnt' allow.  Glad there is green everywhere, that beautiful soft green that's only around in the spring.


Love all the new growth as the clutter of the winter storms is swept away by the new shoots sprouting out of the ground...and of course, a lot of dedicated yard work!


Declutter, grow...I'm paralleling that process as well.  Are you?  It's the perfect time for that before it's too hot.  For me, I spent the winter learning and creating so that my new ideas could blossom in the spring.  Luckily the timing worked out perfectly. My very first online course just got published this week!  Yay!


I based it on my most requested seminar topic - Financial Literacy - from my Strategies for Success program.  It's not a program for new couples - engaged, married or living together.  It's all about the financial math you probably never learned in high school or college, math never learned until years later.  Simple financial math we should all know - and teach our kids early and often. 


I'm so thrilled it's finished, I'm going to give the course away for free for the first 50 people who sign up this first weekk.  Feel free to check it out or share it while they last.  Although it's directed towards new couples (45% of divorces are because of lack of money), there's plenty of information there that's perfect for you too.  Click here for the link.


Keep enjoying every delicious moment of spring - every bud, every ray of sunshine, every warm breeze!


Til next time!


ps...I heard recently that if you start the day thinking something positive, it will set off the whole day in the right direction.  How?  When you don't even ant to get up?  Say, "I love my life!" when your foot first hits the floor.  Or do what I do.  Set your ring tone to "Happy" from Pharrell Williams.  Perfect!

Can’t we all just be a little kinder?

With social media giving everyone and their brother a chance to post their every thought, we’re getting bombarded with unkind remarks for the littlest offenses and for things people say that couldn’t possibly hurt us in any way.  What brought this to the forefront for me was the recent Oscars telecast which I really liked this year.  I like Ellen DeGeneres and thought she did a good job hosting because she took the formality away from an often stuffy event in a mostly kind manner (her Liza Minelli joke was not her usual type of humor). 

When she started the selfie with Meryl Streep, it grew into a Tweet heard round the world.  I liked the way it happened because she made it fun and truly wanted to include a bunch of big name celebrities who she has met and connected with on her daytime show.  I thought it was fun, I thought it was genuine, I thought it was sweet.  Those celebrities became like the rest of us in that brief moment, clowning around and having fun despite the billion or so people watching.  It turned into a $3 million donation to Ellen’s two favorite charities which I really love.

Now the more cynical people reading this could come up with a bunch of alternative meanings for what I just said – she was pandering to celebrities, she was getting a kickback from Samsung.  I can’t even think of any more because my brain doesn’t work that way.  I look for the best in a situation rather than the worst which affords me a happier mindset and from the recent research I’ve read on the how negativity affects the cells in the body, a happier and healthier body.

The incident I really felt bad for was the moment when John Travolta mispronounced Idina Menzel’s name before she sang.  I noticed of course but felt bad for him.  Something obviously happened – he got nervous, he wasn’t feeling well, he froze, the teleprompter was off – something.  But he has been vilified like he murdered someone.  Now you can have your name Travoltarized.  Why? Is it because he’s not young anymore?  Jennifer Lawrence fell twice and we think it’s cute.   Is it because he’s not in any current movie or TV show?  We tend to only celebrate those on top.  I’ve heard nothing but great things about John Travolta from the people who personally know him.  What did he do that was so bad to deserve the crushing comments he’s receiving on Facebook, Twitter , the entertainment shows? 

Is this who we want to be as a society?  We’re like the observers in the Hunger Games where we select a few chosen people to adore – for a short time – and then we celebrate their failures.  We don’t like when someone takes a shot at us but we sit behind our electronic devices and hurl shots at the person who had the latest misstep.  It’s part of the reason so many good people won’t run for office, or won’t step up to help when needed.  They don’t want to be noticed in this world that tears people who dare to try.

As a passionate child advocate after years of working with teens, I worry about how this affects our kids.  They are always watching the adults around them to see what they do and say.  How about giving them a new lesson?  I’m part of a national organization called “Thank a Shining Star” where you have a chance to recognize people who do good deeds, who give good service when you shop, who just make the world a better place.  I invite you to join and get out there and spread a little love.  It’s easy, it’s free, and you’ll love the way it makes you feel to give out those cards.  All you have to do is go to www.ThankaShiningStar.com and order a batch of 20 cards.  It’s totally free including postage because the people who started this program really want to see a positive shift in our world.  Go out and make someone’s day…and your own.