How to start living the life you love,

Fall in love with yourself.

Nurture your body with love, nutritious food, and exercise. 

"I fall asleep feeling beautiful," she said to me. "Then, in the morning, before I leave the house I say five things I love about myself, like, I have really pretty eyes, or, those sit-ups are really working!"  That way I can go out into the world with that little bit of extra confidence. It's a feel-good protein shake that fortifies my soul in case someone messes with me."

Try eating mostly vegetarian for one week. See how creative and fun it is to fill your shopping cart with colorful vegetables and then roast, stir fry, steam, or eat vegetables raw.  This plate above is 3/4 vegetables with roasted potatoes and asparagus, heirloom tomatoes, sweet peas, asparagus, and sliced hormone-free beef tenderloin filet, served with Dijon mustard for zing.

Love your job with all of your heart. Have pride in it, do it 100%, and keep growing in it. If you hate your job, change it. Start something new, create it, market it, perfect it, and love it with all your being.

Build the life you desire by starting with small ‘dough ball’ changes so it's not so overwhelming. For instance, if you're a writer, a colleague of mine, Adele Sommers, recommends writing small metaphorical dough balls of content that you can stack in the freezer to be pulled out later when you are ready to create something like a book or workshop. By creating small dough balls one at a time, you are not faced with preparing ten loaves of bread all at once, and the task doesn’t feel so overwhelming.  

This also applies to lifestyle changes, and your dough balls could be things like starting to walk for twenty minutes every day, cutting out soft drinks, or writing short stories that will one day turn into a novel. The point is start out with small accomplishments that turn into the life you love.  What begins with a dough ball could end as a multi-tiered wedding cake!

   

Is your image helping or hurting you?

What does your image say about you?  Think about the last time you met someone for the first time.  What kind of impression did you make?  Some say it's wrong to 'judge a book by its cover.' Yet we all do it.  For good reason!  Our tribal ancestors had a few seconds to judge whether a stranger was friend or foe. If they judged incorrectly, they were dead within seconds!  We evolved this ability to judge quickly, mostly based on a stranger's size and clothing.  The size thing is obvious, and the clothing indicated whether he/she was a member of the tribe. Clothing still plays a significant role in our first impression -- the way you dress tells the world how you feel about yourself, so show the world you care.

Your image on social media is also important.  Social media gives you a voice.  Use it wisely. It is a powerful connection to the world.  Become a thought leader and change the world one thought at a time.  

Pay attention to your personal brand. Everything you say and do reflects who you are.

Create balance in your life by nurturing personal relationships, taking breaks and vacations often (short 1-day excursions revitalize your spirit), fitting exercise and quiet time into your daily schedule.

   

Enjoy the arts. Go to free concerts, attend art openings at your local galleries, take an art class even if you cannot draw a circle, or learn how to throw pots. Here's my sister, pictured below, throwing a pot for the first time.  She has always talked about getting a hobby, and one day suggested maybe she'd like to learn ceramics.  So, this summer, while we were visiting a pottery store, the owner asked if anyone would like to try the wheel.  I pushed my sister forward and said, "my sister wants to try it!"  Reluctantly, she sat down at the wheel, and proceeded to create a very nice vessel. 

Stop thinking. Start doing.