Every morning, I share a positive affirmation on our Happy Black Woman Facebook page and Twitter. These are some of my favorite ones from the past year. I recommend you choose one each day to repeat to yourself as part of your morning routine to start your day off on a high note. Try this practice for a week and see how it shifts your mindset as you go about your day!
Today, I’m excited to release the updated version of my popular Life Mapping Workbook! This is one of my most powerful personal development tools that has been downloaded thousands of times since I first created it back in 2012. In addition to the free workbook, I’ve now included a 15-minute audio training to walk you through completing it and putting it to use in your life.
At last week’s sold-out Happy Black Woman Happy Hour in Chicago, we talked a lot about pursuing our dreams, taking risks on ourselves and not being afraid to ask for help when we need it. My lovely co-host Patrice Grell Yursik (aka Afrobella) shared in her remarks that in her career as a journalist, blogger and brown beauty maven, she has had to “rise to the occasion” many times to meet the challenges and expectations placed in her path. Patrice’s words were so inspiring to me and the ladies in attendance because it was a much-needed reminder that for us to succeed, we have to be willing to step outside of our comfort zones.
It can feel really good when you find your comfort zone – especially when it comes to your business or career. But that cozy comfort zone can limit you in life. You might be missing out on opportunities without even knowing that you’re missing out! Expanding your comfort zone can bring a whole new world of excitement, passion and fulfillment into your life.
Use these reminders to help you break free of the limits of your comfort zone.
The most popular posts on our Happy Black Woman Facebook Page (by far) are the positive updates I share daily to inspire the women in our community. Every morning, I post an original affirmation that regularly receives hundreds of likes and shares.
What is an affirmation?
Affirmations are, well, affirming statements that you say out loud to yourself on a regular basis. The goal is to re-program your subconscious mind with positive thoughts so that you can remove any negative thoughts preventing you from pursuing your goals and dreams. Affirmations are a powerful personal development tool that I’ve used over the past two years to help me stay present to the possibility of living my ideal life.
This past weekend at our Happy Black Woman Retreat in DC, we had a fun vision board party where we cut up magazines and got creative with putting our life goals into picture form. One of the best moments for me was getting to see everyone’s completed vision boards hung up on the wall at the end of the first day!
Have you ever heard of vision boards?
A vision board is a powerful visualization tool that you can use as inspiration for your journey toward your ideal life. Some people refer to it as a “dream board” or an “inspiration board.” No matter what you call it, it’s basically a collage of pictures, words and quotes that serve to remind you of your passion and purpose.
As an example, below is a photo of MY new vision board that I created along with the group at our HBW retreat. (Can you guess what the images on my board represent?)
As you can see, you don’t have to be an artist to make a vision board! All you need are a few basic supplies and instructions to get started.
“A good intention clothes itself with sudden power.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Even though I work from home, the beginning of the week always feels “busy.” As soon as I wake up on Mondays, I sense looming deadlines. All I hear in my brain is go go go ring ring ring do do do. Needless to say, it’s not the most conscious way to enter the week!
To help me get centered in my life and work, I like to start the week off by setting a positive intention.
This is a practice that extends from my years of writing poetry. One of my professors would always instruct us to “get centered” by sitting still in a quiet place before beginning to write. Setting weekly intentions has helped me reduce the feeling of overwhelm in my business. There’s always so much to do – so many emails to respond to, so many great projects to work on, so many people to connect with, etc. This strategy has helped me to get focused and stay productive each and every week.
When should you set your weekly intention? Well, it’s best if you can do this exercise at the beginning of the week, on a Sunday or Monday. But you can and should feel free to do it on any day and at any time you have a moment to sit down and be still.
In today’s video post, I share three ways to remove negative energy from your life. Once you remove these energetic blocks, you are able to create more space for happiness and success.
In the video, I outline these three ways to release negative energy from your life:
The people you allow into your life can have a profound influence on your thoughts and actions. As a result, if you’re surrounded by negative people most of the time, your progress in life can be hindered. When you hang around people that constantly complain and gossip, it drags you down into the dumps with them as well. Do what you have to do to remove these folks from your life (or at least limit your exposure to them), whether that means not sitting next to them at lunch in the company cafeteria, declining their invitations to hang out or unfriending them on social media.
Media can have a very strong effect on how we think and behave. That’s what most commercials, TV shows and news broadcasts are really all about. Watch what you watch! All the reality TV isn’t just “entertainment”, it can be detrimental to your mindset and serve as an excuse to judge people you don’t even know. And when it comes to the news, remember that if you put too much fear-based information into your brain (which is what most “news” is these days), you will begin to worry more and develop a more cynical worldview.
In today’s video post, I share two simple, yet powerful strategies for setting effective goals. If you use these tips, they will help you get clear about your goal and push you to accomplish it faster.
In the video, I share the following goal-setting tips:
If you want to achieve any goal, it helps to be as specific as possible. Don’t be afraid to tell the universe exactly what you want! Remember that vague goals often produce vague results. For example, “I want to make more money” is a pretty vague goal. Everybody wants to make more money, right? But how MUCH more do you want to make? If you were to say, “I want to be earning $50,000 per year,″ that would be more specific. (And more inspiring as well!)
“We often hesitate to follow our intuition out of fear. Most usually, we are afraid of the changes in our own life that our actions will bring.” – Caroline Myss
Which one are you more afraid of: failure or success?
When it comes to following your dreams, do you worry more about not being able to cope with negative feelings when you mess up or not being able to handle the level of increased responsibility that success often brings? Most of us think we fall in the first camp of not wanting to fail. But many of us are actually more fearful of what might happen if we actually achieved that big goal we say we want.
It can be scary to think about all the different ways your life could change as a result of losing all the weight, making more money, attracting a great man, finding a better job, moving to an exciting new city, etc. Your friends might think you’ve “changed” (you have). Your family might doubt your drastic choices (they will). Your co-workers might be jealous of you (yup, that too).
But freedom comes when you are able to accept the truth that your own self-actualization is worth more than the discomfort you have to go through to get there. Here are two strategies to help you overcome the fear of success and step into the greatness that you were made for.
Hosting a few entrepreneurial HBW for brunch at my place over the weekend, from L to R: Anilia (Motivated Sista), Tambra (Nativsol Kitchen), me!, Wilma (Living Happier After) and Monique (Brown Vegan)
“If your current friends don’t support your goals or resent your success, it’s time to make friends with people who are actually doing amazing things with their lives.” – paraphrased from Fabienne Fredrickson
One of the most difficult things about entrepreneurship is how lonely it can be. While I enjoy the freedom I have in working for myself, I have found it much harder to build my network as a self-employed professional than it was when I worked full-time at a nonprofit. I love my business, but I’ve also learned how important it is to put myself out there to connect with other motivated entrepreneurial women who are on a similar path. I know from experience that when you have a list of people you can call when you need help or just want to vent, it makes life a whole lot easier. Life is even more fulfilling when you have like-minded women around you that you can share victories with, whether it’s quitting your job, landing a new client or publishing your next book.
If you’ve been struggling to expand your social circle, consider these ideas on how to connect with like-minded women and grow your support network.
Last week, I attended Client Attraction Founder Fabienne Fredrickson’s Mindset Tour stop in Reston, Virginia. I learned a lot from Fabienne’s ideas around changing your mindset so that you can earn more money in your business. I also met several inspiring, heart-centered entrepreneurs that are doing their part to help others with their products and services. Local networking events hosted by a business or organization are a great way for you to connect to (and follow up with) women in your area who have the same career or business interests as you do. Best of all, most of them are free or low-cost! Check online forums, blogs, your local newspaper or your city’s weekly community calendar for upcoming networking events.
I wrote about the incredible opportunity I had in attending the Project Getaway business retreat in Thailand earlier this year. It was a powerful experience for me to live in community with other location-independent entrepreneurs for almost a month. Of course, it didn’t hurt that we were in a tropical paradise! Retreats are typically hosted by organizations, authors, speakers, coaches or mentors over the course of a weekend/week/month in various locations around the world. The great thing about retreats is that you can combine them with a vacation or simply take a weekend away from home to get motivated and recharged to achieve your goals. With the Happy Black Woman Retreat this September in DC (2 spots left!), my goal is to cultivate a space for women to support each other on the journey to create our ideal lives and build businesses doing what we love. If you go to your favorite guru’s website, they will likely have an “events” page where you can find out how to register for their next retreat or seminar.
I love Meetup groups and recommend them often. All you do is enter your location and choose a category on the Meetup website to find groups of people with certain interests or hobbies in your area. Even with me traveling and being a nomad these past few years, I’ve always been able to find a Meetup group in my city where I can connect with like-minded people. Although you’ve probably heard this suggestion before, you might think, “I’m just not a ‘go meet a bunch of strangers’ type of person.” Or maybe you’re even an extreme introvert like me. But if you’re looking to expand your social circle, why not plug in to a community that’s already been created for you? Consider that you’ll also expand your skills and experiences by learning from others in the group.
If you love to read and want to meet other readers in your area, you can also find a wide range of book clubs on Meetup.com. Independent bookstores and chains like Barnes & Noble host weekly or monthly book discussion groups as well. If you wish, you can exchange contact information with others in the club to continue the conversation over coffee or dinner. The point is that you expand your social circle with women who enjoy taking part in the same activity that you like to do. You already know you’ll have something in common with the participants, especially if the club is focused on reading certain types of books.
Have you noticed that your phone and face-to-face time with friends has decreased since the convenience of email, Facebook, Twitter, etc? I know I’m guilty of this myself. I definitely have to make the extra effort to schedule lunch, drinks or even just a Skype session with all of the amazing women I know. This past weekend, I took it a step further and invited a small group of entrepreneurial HBW over for brunch at my place. And wine. Lots of wine! Hosting an informal get-together at your home is a fantastic way to expand your social circle because you get to interact more deeply with a select group of women than you would at a crowded happy hour or noisy restaurant. Just go through your email contacts, list of Facebook friends or stack of business cards and I’m sure you’ll discover at least three interesting women you’d like to get to know a bit better.
You can never go wrong with good food and good wine!
For me, the commitment to reach out to others is the key to deepening my relationships with incredible women in my social circle. Even with my ongoing travel schedule and nomadic lifestyle, I know that I can always find people who can support me in the journey to not only grow my business, but to grow myself into the person I want to be.
Leave a comment below: Do you need to expand your social circle to include people who can support your goals? Share ONE thing you can do this week to connect with liked-minded women.
Rosetta Thurman is the Founder of Happy Black Woman, a supportive community that empowers women to create their ideal lives through personal development and entrepreneurship. Join thousands of women who have completed the only online course that gives you all the tools you need to get unstuck, set clear goals and rediscover who you truly are. Learn more about the 31 Days to Reset Your Life program here.
Rosetta Thurman is a nationally-recognized author, speaker, mentor and coach dedicated to helping women create their ideal lives.