Inspire
Monday, June 30, 2008, by Leigh Anne
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School has been officially out now for two weeks at our house. The first week was spent at Girls Camp so this week was our first “official” week of summer.
There is always an adjustment period. The girls think that since it is summer they can stay up as late as they want and then sleep in as late as they want….WRONG!
I am not a “sleeper inner” - never have been -at least I don’t remember being one as a teenager - was I mom?? Since I regularly get up at 6:00 a.m. my definition of sleeping in is 8:00 a.m. - my daughters’ ideas of sleeping in are a little different!
I have decided that sleeping until 9:00 a.m. should be adequate (especially if you go to bed before midnight!) but my girls have discovered a secret. I will let them stay in bed as long as they want if I find them in bed reading a book - yes, I am a sucker for a reader. I love finding my children curled up with a good book and I’ll let them get out of just about anything if they are reading!
So yes - this is where I found my girls this morning….
You see they have fallen in love with vampires - at least books about vampires. Tessa has already read the Twilight series and has finished the first two books in another vampire series (Marked 
and Betrayed 
and we are waiting for the third one to come into the library).
Cali was so busy with AP Literature this past year she didn’t have any time for recreational reading and she has just started the Twilight series.
Even I have succumbed to the “vampire trend” and have read the first two books of the Twilight 
series and need to finish the third one before the fourth comes out in August - and yes, I have pre-ordered my copy which can be picked up at the bookstore at 12:00 a.m. on August 2nd!
I love a good summer time read. I tend to read a little different genre of book in the summer, an “easier” read. We are headed to the beach this next week for our annual “Week at the Beach” so I have a pile of books to take along including my book club book for the month, Cranford 
by Elizabeth Gaskell. Also in my pile are Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer and her newest book, The Host: A Novel
I hope to finish Eat, Pray, Love which I started a few months ago and just haven’t seemed to get around to finishing as well as a couple of others! There is the one other book - a special book I take to the beach with me every year to re-read. I’ll share that one with you next week.
Do you have any favorite summer reads? What’s on your list to read this summer? Please share by leaving a comment below (remember to click through to the blog to leave your comment if you are reading this through an email update or rss reader)
One of my summer goals is to read a book a week - I better get busy!
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Monday, June 23, 2008, by Leigh Anne
Between the ages of 12 and 17 I spent a week each summer at our church’s Girl’s Camp in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We spent a week in the wilderness each year learning all kinds of survival skills, including one year having to cook all three meals, every day, over an open fire - not a good food week!
My favorite memory of Girl’s Camp was the day the boys came to camp - or at least a couple of boys. There was a lake near our camp and one day during the week the boys showed up with a couple of boats and we got to go boating. That was the only day at camp I actually put makeup on!
You can see what a fourteen year old beauty I was - can you guess which one I am? Enter a comment at the end of the post and let’s see if you guess right!
This past week I went back to Girls Camp - this time with my two daughters to our church’s Girls Camp in Sandy, Oregon.
I now know why each year when my daughters return from Girls Camp they are tired and hoarse! There is not much sleeping that goes on and there is a lot of yelling!
My oldest daughter was a counselor at camp this year, in fact she was her younger sister’s counselor. Counselors look a lot different now a days than they did when I was at camp….
and so do the campers…..
As crazy as the girls look and as crazy as they acted, it was an amazing week. I loved the opportunity I had to escape from the world, forget about my phone, my email, and focus on the girls and the beautiful outdoors.
I had the opportunity to share with them, through the lessons we taught, the amazing potential they have and the ability they have to choose - choose their actions and their attitude.
At the end of the week each girl was presented with a white box that represented the sweet, innocent spirit they came to earth with. There was a pretty pink ribbon tied around the box.
On the outside of the box was a saying that I actually have on my kitchen wall….
Each day comes bearing its’ own gifts….untie the ribbons
I hope that each girl left camp with the knowledge that their potential is great - that each day is a gift, a gift that just needs to be opened by them and that even when they can’t choose what happens to them they can choose their reaction and attitude.
Now, off to bed to catch up on some of that sleep…..
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Monday, June 16, 2008, by Leigh Anne
How many times does it take to get your attention?
I have decided to takes three times to get mine.
I have had several experiences the last couple of months that, finally, after hearing or seeing something the third time I figured someone was trying to send me a message and I should do something about it. So I’m a little slow sometimes….
Trying to get Leigh Anne’s Attention #1: Several months ago someone recommended the book The Last Lecture
by Randy Pausch to me. Being the book addict that I am I went right out and bought it - and didn’t read it.
Trying to get Leigh Anne’s Attention #2: A couple of weeks ago in church someone quoted Randy Pausch in their talk -”Oh, yeah I bought that book, I should read it”
Trying to get Leigh Anne’s Attention #3: I record Oprah everyday and manage to watch about one episode a week. The one I watched last week was an episode that was a repeat from last year. Guess who was the guest? Yes, Randy Pausch. “I guess I should read that book”
Well, I read the book “The Last Lecture”(I added it to my Recent Reads list on the right side of the blog.) The book is based upon a lecture that professor Randy Pausch gave at Carnegie Mellon University last year. Professors are invited to give a lecture as if it was their “Last Lecture”. In Randy’s case it literally was. Randy is dying from pancreatic cancer and has only been given a few months to live.
The book is the lecture he gave at Carnegie Mellon as well as some of the “life lessons” that Randy has learned in his short 47 years. The title of his lecture was “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” The inside cover of the book reads “the lecture he gave wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment.”
It is a motivating and inspiring book with short little chapters that make it an easy and quick read but leave you with lots to think about!
The lecture that Randy gave was not for attention, for glory, for the people that attended - he did it for his young children, so they will know the man their father was, the father they would most likely not remember if it was not for “The Last Lecture” What a gift he has not only given us but that he has left for his children.
You can listen to and watch the lecture by clicking here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
It lasts about an hour and 20 minutes and is worth the time.
I think my favorite part of the book was the second half where Randy shares some of his “life lessons learned.”
Some of my favorites were:
Don’t complain, Just work harder- “Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us happier”
Will someone please share this one with my fourteen year old!!
Watch what they do, not what they say - this life lesson is meant as future dating advice to his 18 month old daughter but I got on the phone and called my son Logan to share it with him. I think it is good advice for boys too!
All you have to do is ask - I have found this life lesson to be so true. So many times I have had people ask me ‘How did you do that or how did you get that?’ The answer is usually “I asked!” As Randy says, “Ask those questions. Just ask them. More often than you’d suspect, the answer you’ll get is, ‘Sure.’
Be the first penguin -this life lesson comes from the idea that when penguins are about to jump into water that might contain predators, somebody has got to be the first penguin in. “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.”
After reading Randy’s life lessons I decided that I needed to start a list of my own life lessons - Leigh Anne’s Life Lessons Learned. I hope it’s a long time before I have to give my “Last Lecture” but I’ve got the list started!
So here are three of Leigh Anne’s Life Lessons Learned!
1. Life is not fair. Thanks to sweet Mr. Winston, my high school chemistry teacher, for teaching me this one.
2. Everything is a choice. We might not always be able to choose what happens to us but we can choose how we react to it.
3. Kill them with Kindness. The advice I give to my children anytime they are struggling to get along with someone (usually one of their siblings!)
So do you have a list of Life Lessons Learned?
I’d love it if you’d share one or two in the comment box below. Remember if you are reading this through an email update or an rss reader you will have to click through to the actual blog to leave your comment. Thanks - I look forward to hearing from you.
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Tuesday, May 27, 2008, by Leigh Anne
Fourteen years ago we built the house that we currently live in. We moved from our small, one bathroom bungalow in the city to our 5 bedroom home in the suburbs. With the birth of our fourth child - we had definitely outgrown that house!
Not only did we buy a lot more house - we bought a lot more yard. We went from a small city lot to a 17,000 square foot yard - or rather 17,000 square feet of clay dirt. That’s all there was - dirt - there was not one tree, flower, bush or stick!
As I mentioned yesterday, the extent of my gardening experience was 3 pots of geraniums on my front porch. So what were we going to do with 17,000 square feet of dirt?? I decided that I wanted a garden, I wanted a garden like the ones you see in magazines. The only problem was I knew nothing about gardening or where to even start.
I was in the same situation 17 years ago when I started my homebased business - I knew nothing about running a business or sales. I had never sold anything before. Let’s face it I had a degree in Clothing and Textiles - I had spent four years in college learning how to construct a blazer - not selling anything!
But I had a desire - I had a desire to have a beautiful garden and I also had a desire to have a successful, income producing business. That is the first step in achieving anything - desire.
Step One: Start with a Desire
Step Two: Develop a Plan! Start small and start now. Don’t allow your fears, lack of knowledge or information keep you from moving forward. My first step in creating the beautiful garden I wanted was to take a class on landscape design from the local community education program. There I learned that I needed a plan. I knew I couldn’t tackle all 17,000 square feet at once. I learned that the first thing I needed to do was amend my soil - we brought in truck loads of good dirt. I then decided to focus on one area of the yard a time.
Have a plan for your goal or desire. Start small and start now! Don’t allow fear to hold you back, be willing to take the first steps.
The beginning of our plan - good dirt and an irrigation system.
Step Three: Get resources, books, tapes, advice from the experts - I consider these things to be “Shortcuts to Success”. Get on the Internet and ‘google’ your area of focus. Go to Amazon.com or the public library and check out books. I spent a lot of time reading gardening magazines and books I had checked out from the library in addition to the information I learned at the class I was taking. I would also go for walks and look at yards, look for plants/flowers I liked. I would even go up to people’s doors to ask them names of ones I didn’t know. I spent a lot of time wandering around nurseries, asking questions and making lists of flowers and plants I liked and taking pictures of plants.
Step Four: Find a Mentor. One day when I was at a nursery purchasing some plants, the cashier mentioned that I was buying plants similar to ones a garden designer, who had just been in, was also purchasing. I asked what their name was and the cashier gave me the garden designer’s card. I went home and immediately called her. She invited me to come visit her garden - and could I come right now? I was expecting dinner guests within an hour but didn’t want to miss out on this opportunity so I quickly explained to my husband what he needed to do to finish up dinner and I headed out to tour her garden. I was in love! Her garden was amazing (it’s been featured in many national gardening magazines, Fred Meyer commercials etc.) and I wanted a garden just like hers!! I took Jim back a few days later and he was in love too.
We hired Margaret to help us with our plan. She helped us define our space and pick plants that were appropriate to the areas. She taught us as we went along and we learned so much from her.
Jim and Margaret looking over the plan
Find a mentor, an expert in the field, someone who has done what you want to do and is willing to teach you. I have used this step many times. When I’ve wanted to get more organized I’ve asked a friend who is incredibly organized to come over and help me. Find someone who models the trait you want to possess.
Step Five: Set aside time for growth daily. Gardens take time. We couldn’t turn our large piece of dirt into a beautiful garden over night. It is an ongoing process and still is today. Building a successful business takes time. It takes consistent effort and focus. Using time techniques such as Fifteen Minute Focus and Power Hour have helped me in my garden and in my business. I use the Fifteen Minute Focus to keep the garden weeded!
So here are some pictures of what my garden looks like today - the next picture was taken from the same window that the first picture above was …quite a change!
Our woodland path.
Next week I’ll share with you a few more gardening lessons I learned along the way that also apply to achieving our goals and dreams.
Happy Gardening!
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Monday, May 26, 2008, by Leigh Anne
I hope you are all enjoying your holiday weekend. We are spending some time in the garden.
Today I thought I’d share with you what’s blooming in the Wilkes’ family garden. Tomorrow I’ll share with you my how I went from being a “pot of geraniums on the porch” kind of non-gardener to a having a garden that has been featured in the newspaper and in magazines!
But for right now - enjoy a peek into my garden.
A yellow ‘Happy Returns’ daylilly and one of my favorite hardy geraniums ‘Johnson’s Blue’. I love hardy geraniums and have quite a collection of different varieties. I love them because they bloom and bloom and bloom!
Here’s another variety of hardy geraniums - Psilostemon
Isn’t this Princess Victoria Louise Poppy gorgeous in combination with the ‘Johnson’s Blue’ and ‘Wargrave Pink’ hardy geranium?
Our 37 rose bushes are just beginning to flower and the peonies are ready to burst.
I love how the rain drops form on the leaves of the Alchemilla Mollis ‘Lady’s Mantle’ and the combination of it with the Centhranthus Ruber ‘Red Valerian’
Here is a Tiarella ‘Crow’s Feather’, a Heuchera “Purple Petticoat” and a variegated hosta.
A variegated variety of columbine.
A “Lime Rickey” heuchera in combination with a variegated hosta.
A purple Japanese Iris collects raindrops
Happy Gardening
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Tuesday, May 6, 2008, by Leigh Anne
Last week I shared with you my Health Goal for my 40 Days of Fanatical Focus - in addition to increasing my exercise I wanted to drink more water each day.
I am happy to report that I have been doing much better and most days I drink my whole water jug full! I must admit this has been a bit of a struggle for me. I confess - I am a diet soda drinker. I know it’s not great for me and my high school senior daughter loves to tell me how it causes cancer - but just about everything causes cancer these days, doesn’t it? I was proofreading a paper for my sweet college boy a few weeks ago and he cited a study that made the claim that ice cream causes cancer - yes, ICE CREAM! I refuse to buy into that one! But I have limited myself to a diet soda every other day.
Since drinking water is a bit of a challenge for me I have had to come up with some ways to make it easier and increase my intake. So today, here are my Top Tips for Drinking More Water:
1. Set a goal of how much water you want to drink each day and have someone hold you accountable. I place my big water jug on the counter each day so the rest of my family can see how much I have drunk. I don’t like drinking out of the big jug so I fill and refill a smaller water bottle until the big one is empty.
2. I place a smaller water bottle next to my bed and when I wake up I try and drink the bottle of water within 20 minutes of waking.
3. I carry a water bottle with me everywhere, I keep one on my desk and always take one in the car with me.
4. Before I drink a diet soda I make myself drink twice the amount of soda in water.
5. Each time I crave something sweet I drink some water first.
6. Before each meal I also drink another 8 ounces of water - it’s amazing how it decreases my appetite.
7. After each trip to the bathroom (and these are more frequent with all the water I’m drinking) I drink another 8 oz. of water or so.
8. I get real tired of drinking just plain old, flavorless water so I have found some different things to add to my water bottle to make it easier.
…I love adding those cute little individual packets of Crystal Light to my water. They come in all kinds of fun flavors - the Classic Orange is my current favorite. They are so easy to just throw in your purse too!
…If you’d like something a little less sweet my Aunt Dawn recently told me about True Lemon and True Lime. It is also a powder but it tastes like you just squeezed some fresh lemon or lime juice into your water. I found it at Safeway. It is light and refreshing.
…I also purchased a box of Greens to Go at Costco. Honestly - despite the advertising on the box that says “Guaranteed Great Tasting” I think it tastes like you are drinking grass but it really does make me feel better after I drink it. (I drink it really fast). In the late afternoon when I hit a little energy lull I mix some up and I really feel better afterwards and I am sure it is better for me than a diet soda!
9. I drink a bottle of water after I get back from my morning walk to rehydrate.
10. Finally, make it a contest. Find a partner - your husband, friend or neighbor and see who can drink the most water each day. Make sure there is some kind of reward or prize for the winner!
Do you have any tips or tricks for drinking more water? I’d love to hear what they are. Please share by leaving a comment below or if you are reading this in an email update or rss feeder please remember to click through to the blog post to leave your comment.
Happy Drinking (water drinking that is!)
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Monday, May 5, 2008, by Leigh Anne
“The things that make you feel, think, laugh”
Having been involved in direct sales for 17 years I have enjoyed reading about other woman who have been successful in the industry. Of course, one of the icons of the direct sales industry is Mary Kay Ash of Mary Kay Cosmetics. She is an amazing woman and I have enjoyed reading about and learning from her over the years.
Years ago, at the beginning of my direct sales career I first read about Mary Kay’s Five O’clock Club in her book “Mary Kay - You Can Have it All”.
Whenever people would ask Mary Kay how she managed to get so much done she would tell them about her Five O’clock Club and invite them to join her.
Yes, Mary Kay Ash would get up every morning at 5:00 a.m. That extra hour or two each day, before the rest of the world and her family got up, helped her to accomplish all that she needed to do - and she accomplished a lot. I have since read of many successful people who are members of the club too - everyone from Ted Turner to Gandhi.
When I was a young mom, home with 4 small children and trying to balance family with running a direct sales business and everything else in my life, there just weren’t enough hours in my day. After reading about Mary Kay’s club I decided to join. Yes - I decided to get up at 5:00 a.m. each morning. The thing I was struggling with at the time was getting my exercise in each day so I went to the gym each morning at 5:00 a.m.
Now - I’m not going to lie - it was painful, very painful! But I was determined to make exercise a part of my life and if 5:00 a.m. was the only time I could make it happen - I was going to do it. I will tell you that it did get easier - not a lot easier - but easier to get up at that time each morning.
I continued the practice of the 5 O’clock Club for a lot of years - sometimes using it to get my exercise in or other times using it to get up and work on projects I needed to accomplish.
As my children got older though and were gone all day to school I stopped being a member of the 5 O’clock Club. Maybe it was because I had more time to myself during the day to get things done or maybe I just got lazy! I have found that the busyness of life has it’s ebbs and flows - some seasons are crazy busy and others are just busy.
We are entering one of those crazy busy seasons for the next few months with sweet high school daughter getting to graduate and wanting to be involved in as many things as she possibly can and I want to be right there to enjoy it all too. I have a list a mile long of all the things I want to accomplish before graduation (including her scrapbooks!)
Several weeks ago I shared with you one of my goals for my Forty Days of Fanatical Focus - completing her scrapbooks (family goal) and increasing my exercise program. (health goal)
This week it was time to add in Focus Goal #3 - my spiritual goal. In order to accomplish this goal I am once again joining the 5 O’clock Club - with one slight modification - it is now the 6 O’clock Club!
For the last week I have been getting up at 6:00 a.m. each morning (this is a half hour earlier than normal) to spend quiet time reading my scriptures, pondering and working on a new assignment I have been given at church. I have been asked to be a Destiny Leader for our church girl’s camp this summer. Destiny is the “spiritual” part of camp - each day the girls go to Destiny to be spiritually feed and uplifted. In order to prepare myself for this responsibility I knew I needed to take time each day between now and then to prepare what I would say and share with the girls.
Being 17 years older than I was when I first joined the 5 O’clock Club I didn’t want to shock the old system too much so I decided to start getting up at 6 a.m. for a week and then this week it will be 5:45 a.m. and then I’ll push it to 5:30 a.m. the next week (So I guess it will be the 5:30 club eventually!)
I have loved this extra pocket of time each morning. It sets a wonderful tone for the rest of my day and is helping me to find the time I need to prepare for my new assignment.
Is there some project you have been putting off? Are you finding the time in your day for all the things that are important to you? If not - you might want to give the Five O’clock Club - or maybe the Six O’clock Club - the more members the better!
Let me know if you join and what you are using the time to focus on and accomplish.
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Thursday, May 1, 2008, by Leigh Anne
“The things that make you feel, think and laugh”
As a child I loved books and I loved to read. Thanks to a mother who loved to read I have been a life long reader. One of my favorite childhood memories was our weekly trip to the library in my hometown of Kenosha, Wisconsin. In fact, Kenosha had a seperate children’s library, an old church that was turned into a library just for children.
As a child I loved all the usual - Nancy Drew, Little House on the Prairie, Pippi Longstocking etc. I also loved biographies I remember some of my favorite were Helen Keller, Jane Addams and Florence Nightengale.
I still love to read - my favorite genres now are memoirs, historical fiction and anything by Jane Austen or other authors of that era!
My declutter project this past week has been to clean out and organize all the books that have accumulated around and under my bed. I try to keep our master bedroom clutter free but my side of the bed just seems to be a magnet for books. In fact when I gathered up all the books this is what I found…..
There were 36 books by my bed. - o.k. -so they weren’t exactly this neat and tidy!
I guess I am a bit optimistic about how much reading I can actually get done each night before I fall asleep.
That pile includes my current “read” which is Eat, Pray, Love and the book I need to read for book club that is in a couple of weeks Three Cups of Tea. There are business books, church books, current best sellers and two little known novels by Louisa May Alcott Inheritance and A Long Fatal Love Chase along with the third book in the Vampire series by Stephenie Meyer, Eclipse, that I need to get read before the fourth one comes out in August!
So many books, so little time…..
You may have noticed a new little feature I added to my blog -a listing of my most “Recent Reads.” (Scroll down on the right hand side) I hope you’ll enjoy this new little feature and if you’re looking for a good book - check out my list.
One of my favorite questions to ask people and one I’ve been known to ask everyone, even complete strangers, is “What’s the best book you’ve read recently?” I keep a running list of their answers in my little notepad so I am never wanting for a good book to read!
I’d love for you to share with me “What’s the best book you’ve read recently?!” Just leave a comment below and let me know. Remember, if you are reading this in a rss reader or through an email update you will need to click through to the actual blog to leave your comment.
I look forward to hearing from you and adding your favorite book to my “To Read” list! Happy Reading!
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008, by Leigh Anne
“The things that make you feel, think, laugh”
Sorry there was no new post yesterday but it was “re-entry” day at our house. You know - the day after you return from a trip. There’s the mail, the email, the voicemail, the unpacking, the laundry, the empty refrigerator and the kids that need some attention! Now if my body can just re-adjust to Pacific time everything will be great. Jim and I had a fabulous time in Florida and loved the break and the sun! I tried to soak in as much Vitamin D as I could.
Our trip to Florida was a gift from my company to the top level leaders. They spoiled us with 4 nights/5 days in the beautiful luxury Marriott resort on Marco Island. We enjoyed wonderful food, spa time, fun shopping, exciting excursions, pool and beach time and did I mention SUN!
One of my favorite excursions was the Shelling/Dolphin boat trip. If you have never been to Marco Island (it is the southwest tip of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico) the beach there is covered with millions of shells. I really don’t even think there is sand - it is just crushed shell. If you are from Oregon you know that it is an exciting day when you find an intact shell on the Oregon Coast - well in Florida they are everywhere!
Our boat took us out to a private island that was only used for shelling. The beach there was covered with shells. As everyone departed the boat they began walking along the shore line collecting the shells that lined the beach.
I noticed a woman walking by who had a bucket full of shells. But they were not the shells that were so abundant along the beach - they were not the common shells you can find everywhere on Marco Island - these shells were different. They were beautiful.
I wanted shells like hers.
As I watched her, she did not walk along the shore line like everyone else. She actually got into the water. So I decided if I was going to find shells like hers I too was going to have to get into the water - to get wet. So I lifted up my cover-up and got into the water.
These particular shells were not as abundant as the others - I had to search for them and sometimes I had to wade out a bit farther than I really wanted to and get a bit wetter than I really wanted to. I had to step on some pretty bumpy terrain a few times and almost lost my balance a time or two. But I found them - the beautiful shells I wanted.
My shells are now home with me, in a glass bowl on my kitchen counter - I love them. They will be a reminder of our wonderful time in Florida but they also remind me of something else.
They remind me of those goals that we set - whether it is one of the goals we have set for our 40 Days of Fanatical Focus or a more long term goal.
When we set a goal:
1. We are setting ourselves apart. We are not looking for the common, everyday. Just like I didn’t want those shells that were so abundant on the beaches, I wanted the unique shells - we want to accomplish something unique, something different.
2. We need to look for a guide. Someone who has done it before us, someone who has forged the path for us and has provided a map that we can follow, just like the woman I saw with the bucket of beautiful shells. By watching her and what she did I knew where to find those shells - in the water!
3. We need to differentiate ourselves from the crowd. We need to be willing to not follow the easy path - walking along the shoreline where all the common shells are. We need to veer off the path and get into the water - we need to get wet!
4. We need to realize that we may need to get wetter than we want and maneuver over some rough terrain but that it will be worth it. By getting wet and enduring a little pain I found what I was looking for - I found seashell success.
5. After we have found success we need to share it with others. When I got back on the boat to sail back to the hotel, Jody Summers, another top leader in my company was also on the excursion. She had not found any of the beautiful shells that I had so I shared a few with her.
Greater joy can be found in our success when we are willing share it with others.
Here’s wishing you Seashell Success!
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Monday, April 21, 2008, by Leigh Anne
Last week I shared with you one of my goals for my 40 Days of Fanatical Focus - to work on my high school senior daughter’s scrapbook using a Fifteen Minute Focus 5 days a week and 2 Power Hours a week.
Before I report in on my progress I want to thank those of you who are joining me and who shared your goals - thank you! It’s not too late - leave a comment today and let me know what you are going to focus on for the next 40 days!
Well - now for my report -I wasn’t totally focused! Those 15 minutes a day just didn’t happen but I am happy to report that the 2 Power Hours did happen this weekend, so progress was made. Even though I wasn’t totally focused I moved forward and accomplished more than I would have otherwise!
I hope to do better this week even though I will be out of town for four days. (I won’t count those 4 days in the 40!)
I decided not to start out with four goals (Health, Spiritual, Family, Business) all at the same time - instead I will add in a new one each week and so my 40 days will actually last 70 Days.
This week’s new goal falls into the “Health” category. I want to focus in on my exercise routine - or lack of!
My goal is to walk 5 days a week - lately I’m lucky if it is 3. I have a friend who walks with me 2-3 days a week and that works great - it’s the other two days when I am left on my own to do it that I have a problem.
So -for the next 40 days I will focus on walking 5 days a week. I just purchased a new WalkVest to wear when I walk to add some resistance to the workout - not exactly the height of fashion but it does give me a better workout.
I am also going to wear a pedometer each day with the goal of walking 10,000 steps a day!
The last part of the goal is my water consumption. I have pulled my big water jug out from the back of the cupboard and my goal is to drink that amount of water or more everyday. So a lot of those 10,000 steps will probably be in and out of the bathroom!
So how are you doing with your 40 Days of Fanatical Focus? If you haven’t set a focus goal yet - do it today and share it with me below in the comment section. Let’s cheer each other on! Even if we aren’t perfect (as you see I’m not!) we can make progress.
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Categories: Goals, Inspire
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