Reflections: Seven Great Moments In 2012

Reflections Feat 2012
As 2012 comes to an end I can’t help but reflect on seven great moments that I had this year. I’ll also mix in some relevant posts that document particular events or that I attended this year as well.

1.) At the beginning of this year I posted on New Year, New Beauty Resolutions . Take a look… I am proud to say that I kept up with most of the beauty resolutions. Being a mom on-the-go 24/7 I tend to rush things and not take enough me time. The one thing that I really slacked on was taking relaxing bubble baths. I’m so used to the shower and go method! However, slacking one out of ten isn’t that bad!

2.) I have to admit that sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. I know that everything can’t always be perfect so When Life Serves You Lemons… Make Lemonade! I have had a year of transition that I was not very accepting of at first but, it’s turned out to be a great journey thus far and I am glad that I have all types of experiences to learn from in life.

3.) I got to play dress up at Flaunt Boutique for Real Housewives of the Triangle and shoot an amazing music video parody for bloggers everywhere! I discovered Desigual Designs and met the Rep at The Flaunt Boutique in store event and had a great time. The Desigual line is HOT indeed and I continue to keep up with them through social media and newsletters. Check out Desigual and Flaunt Boutique, they have everything fashionable and chic! HOT!!! Desigual Designs at Flaunt Boutique!

4.) My team and I worked on the best music video parody for bloggers. Jael Custom Designs Presents… Sponsor-(Parody) UNofficial Bloggers Anthem. I had a ball with this project from conception to the moment it was complete. It started out as a crazy thought and then I spoke to @Johnny_J_Jones about it and worked on the lyrics with my sister @TheBRANDtheorem, got @TheRealLaww involved and that was all she wrote! This was a great milestone!

5.) I went Pole Dancing for the first time and had a ball while I was doing it but, the next day was reminded that I’m not in that great of shape! Actually… let me clean that up a bit. I did a Pole Fitness class and ventured into a little chair dancing (also fitness). I had such a great time I decided to have a Pole Fitness Birthday Party with my girlfriends. Pole Fitness… Does A Body Good!

6.) I was able to go to Type A Parent Conference in Charlotte, NC this past July as well as Blogalicious in Las Vegas this past September. I love Charlotte,NC so I had a blast Uptown and I had never been to Las Vegas so both trips were AMAZING! The three hour time difference completely messed me up in Las Vegas. I didn’t sleep that much the entire trip but, it was all worth it. I got to meet great blogging friends and reunite with others. I also took a detour on my way home from Charlotte and visited the NC Mountains for the first time and it was truly a beautiful ride home. Seven Great Moments at Blogalicious 2012.

7.) I left the best for last! I participated in a Leading On Purpose workshop and documented my journey the entire way. I have now recognized and found my purpose in life so that I am able to live on purpose while living out my dreams. I live by the quote… Love What You Do, Do What You Love! I also really enjoyed reading Joel Osteen’s I Declare, 31 Promises To Speak Over Your Life. I now only speak positive things into my life and allow them to manifest. I don’t let fear hold me back and no matter what I think positive and go with the flow! I know it’s not all in my hands. Leading On Purpose Week 1: Welcome. Leading On Purpose Week 2: Purpose & Dreams. Leading On Purpose Week 3: Overcoming Barriers & Setbacks. Leading On Purpose Week 4: The Finale.

Bonus:I was able to see Elle Varner in Concert as a part of the North Carolina Central University Homecoming festivities last month and I had a GREAT time. An Evening with Elle Varner Spon. By Clear Scalp & Hair Thgerapy

Leading On Purpose Week 4: The Finale

Can’t believe it’s been four weeks already! Our last Leading On Purpose class included tools and strategies for success, dream commissioning and a few surprises! When we walked in there was a beautiful cake that read “Congratulations on Living Your Dream” There were pieces of cake already cut for us to take to our seats. We had a choice of Chocolate or Vanilla. Yum! We didn’t waste any time jumping right in to our last night together doing the Leading on Purpose series. Lynette Lewis spoke for a few minutes and immediately introduced Eleatta to speak and share her purpose and dream with us. Eleatta is living her dream, loves to paint and owns Art Parties! By Eleatta. Her story is amazing! She went to school and majored in art but, did nothing with it for years. She married, had children and her dreams were put on the back burner until one day she heard Lynette Lewis speak about her journey and the importance of living out your dream.

Eleatta left that meeting empowered and ready to take steps in pursuing her dream. She immediately had visions of images she couldn’t get out her mind that she just knew had to be painted. Her first step was buying a blank canvas and from there Eleatta had a great support system to hold her hand, PUSH her, support her and hold her accountable when needed. Eleatta now has an art studio downtown Durham at Golden Belt where she holds Art Parties and she also paints dreams. Her Dream collection is amazing! After Eleatta spoke we were surprised with having a paint party and our task was to paint our dreams on a blank canvas. Now you all know I’m no painter! I can design digitally in a software program with no problem, but I can’t hold a paint brush and paint anything I’d think is worth showing anyone. However, magically on Friday night all one hundred women artistic and non-artistic painted our hearts out and put our dreams on canvas.

After our paint party we held our masterpieces up and prayed! We prayed that god would see our gifts and passion and bless us to fulfill our dreams. It was definitely an emotional moment. Tears filled our eyes as we all decided to let go of our fears and let god lead us in faith to live our dreams. We talked about surrounding our self with people that support us, and are positive to form a team and help each other along. Meet up once or twice a month to see where everyone is on their projects, offer a helping hand and keep everyone on track. One thing really stuck out to me that Lynette Lewis said… When you are pregnant and you have a midwife, they support you and they do whatever is necessary for you to be able to birth your baby. We’re always midwives helping other people to pursue their dreams and pushing ours on the back burner. “Well, guess what? Now, you’re pregnant! Now, it’s your turn to push and birth your dreams.” Move forward and engage, this is your season!

I left my last Leading on Purpose class feeling FULL, I felt like I had all the tools I needed to manifest my dreams. I was feeling a bit down a few weeks ago slipping into depression and I emailed my Leading on Purpose team about it and on Friday I was blessed with “I Declare” 31 Promises To Speak Over Your Life By: Joel Osteen and my spirits were lifted. I’ve been reading the book a few days and I feel a change in me. I now know that I have to believe what I speak into my life. I have to move forward with my dreams and not let fear defeat me. I have to walk in faith and not falter. I know that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I just have to know in my heart and soul that what I profess will come to pass and not in my time but, in god’s time and no matter what, he’s going to provide!

I truly enjoyed my four weeks at Leading On Purpose, would do it all over again and recommend it to every woman I know! I left knowing my purpose; I went in clueless and not being able to recognize it. I now know how to recognize fear and not let it get the best of me and I’m going to live my dreams. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in everyday life that we tend to forget that god is our substance and provider, without him we are nothing! I know if I continue to put him first, everything will fall into place. Are you living your dreams? If, not why? You owe it to yourself to be happy.

Leading On Purpose Week 3: Overcoming Barriers & Setbacks

Last week we talked about dreams and choosing a personal and professional dream to start taking steps towards achieving. My personal goal is to rejuvenate my marriage and my professional goal is to launch my own Marketing & PR Firm in 2013! If you missed it you can take a look at Leading On Purpose Week 2: Purpose & Dreams So during we the week we had to start tackling making these dreams come true. So what steps did I take to work on my dreams?

Well, I was sort of thrown off track because my hubby was injured and we ended up at Urgent Care then transferred to the ER, and he’s been out of it and on medications for roughly a week and can’t go back to work until our physician clears him. So, I’ve been taking care of hubby and being his nurse, transportation specialist, secretary, errand girl, personal chef and… well I guess that all falls under first and foremost being his WIFE! We’ve spent large amounts of time together and communicating when he’s up and not under his medicated cocktail coma! However, this isn’t what I had in mind when I said I wanted to spend time with him (kid free) Ha! However, he’s told me countless times how much he loves me and appreciates me! I haven’t really done anything to work towards my professional goal yet, unless you count strategically making plans and writing everything down.

This week during Leading On Purpose we talked about overcoming barriers and setbacks. Lynette Lewis stated that we should create opportunities for ourselves and pull our dreams into what currently exists in our lives. We shouldn’t stop until we make room for our dreams. Focus + Passion = What We Want! There are probably tons of opportunities right in front of you and I but, we have to be able to recognize them and go for it! We also need to beware of the dream enemies! Lynette Lewis said “Until we call an enemy, an enemy… We won’t fight it” That made perfect sense to me. Also beware of the lies of logic like… You’re not qualified, you’re too young or old, or you don’t have enough resources. It was stated that you’ll find someone to fund your dream if you have the right idea. It made perfect sense, there are investors out there that we need to get in front and if they believe in our dream and are just as passionate as we are about it they’ll fund it.

So how do we get things done! Don’t be like me and wait for the perfect moment. There really isn’t one. Just Do It! There were two phrases that I loved this week. The first was Dream It, Do It! and The second was Do It, Fix It! We can do something and fix it later. If we wait for that perfect moment it may never happen! So we can utilize Lynette’s 1-1-1 Strategy so we don’t get overwhelmed! 1 dream, 1 step, once a week! By the end of the year we would have taken 52 steps towards our dream. Also don’t forget, we all have insecurities and things will always try to get in our way. Don’t let it get the best of us, We need to keep moving towards our dreams!

I had the honor of being star of the week this week at Leading On Purpose “Thanks Anitra” and it meant a lot to me because of what it represents. I received a star fish decorative candle! Fact: Sea stars have an amazing ability to regenerate arms when they are severed. How it translates to me: No matter what road block, stop sign, or obstacles that get in my way I won’t STOP! I may have to take a new direction but, I vow never to hit a dead end! I am committing to my dreams and I won’t stop until they come true! I’m ready to put in my hard work and I know things won’t always go as planned but, I won’t let that discourage me. I hope that you will do the same. If you have some tips on overcoming barriers and setbacks please share. I have one more week of Leading On Purpose to go! Until next time…

Leading On Purpose Week 2: Purpose & Dreams

Last week I was struggling with my purpose statement and not feeling too secure in what my purpose actually is. After some deep thought and help from the amazing Lynette Lewis, my original purpose statement was modified and the following is my finalized purpose statement. My Purpose is to promote people and organizations to new levels of income and profitability, through engaging, authentic communication and relationships. I LOVE that! It says everything I am passionate about and live on a daily basis. Now that I have my purpose settled it’s time to tackle some DREAMS!

This week during “Leading on Purpose” we were asked to come up with two dreams (one personal & one professional) that we can actively pursue, taking practical steps with the goal of completing them within a twelve month period. My personal goal is to work on rejuvenating my marriage. I’ve known my husband since I was fifteen years old, we grew up together, and share four children. Our marriage hasn’t always been peaches & cream and sometimes I feel as though we are not appreciative of one another and take our relationship for granted. One thing I do know is that we are best friends and still in LOVE with one another! My steps to completing this goal included spending more time together (kid free), possibly seeking out a marriage counselor, effective communication and be committed to healing and growth.

My professional dream is to launch a Marketing & PR firm in 2013 under the Jael umbrella. My steps toward making this happen include deciding on my company name, designing the website, going outside of my comfort zone and promoting it as well as plan and host a launch party in the coming new year. I have a team of friends that I work well with and we keep each other on task as well as motivate and promote one another. I will see the light at the end of the tunnel because I’m going to create a strategy and stay focused which will lead to my success! Now my homework is to take some steps towards achieving these dreams and report next week what steps I’ve taken towards accomplishing them. I am committed to working on these dreams and taking the necessary steps to make them come true!

Do you recognize what your purpose is and are you living it? Do you have dreams that you are working on? How do you plan on achieving your dreams? Please share what methods you have taken and I’ll keep you posted on my “Leading on Purpose” progress. I have two more classes to complete. Until Next Time…

Leading On Purpose: Week 1

I recently joined “Leading on Purpose” through Kings Park International Church in Durham, NC. I attend KPIC and the goal for this group of 100 women is to spend 4 weeks together with two goals in mind… Know your purpose and live your dreams! This workshop will help us to recognize our dreams, begin to plan how we are going to achieve them, overcoming roadblocks, and be empowered!

I joined “Leading On Purpose” because I am in a period of transition in my life and fear was holding me back from moving towards my dreams. Recently being laid off after many years with the same company, I decided to take a break and focus on ME! I was being very indecisive and staying stagnant. I would ask myself… “What is my purpose?” “What is it that I am here to do?” and I couldn’t give myself a satisfactory answer. These are questions that I felt I should have a solid answer to.

I’m a very positive person will tons of ambition and I like to move on my goals and even juggle certain things to be able to achieve everything I want to do. So why is it that I am feeling so insufficient and undervalued? These are the questions that I am trying to answer for myself. So, I’m on a journey to find and/ or recognize my purpose and fulfill it through living it each day. I’m all about putting dreams in motion.

The task for my first week was to craft a purpose statement. This is where I got lost! Remember I’m still trying to recognize my purpose, so asking me to craft a statement the first week was hard. We were given a sheet of paper with a few questions to answer and fifty words, and out of the FIFTY words we had to circle FOUR words that stood out to us. My four were COMMUNICATE, ENGAGE, GENERATE and PROMOTE. Those four words made me smile! I’m passionate about each and every one of those words. So, from there we had to write a purpose statement using our words. For the longest time I stared at a blank sheet of paper.

Finally I came up with…
(This is my first rough draft)
My purpose is to… Develop authentic relationships while I COMMUNICATE and ENGAGE allowing me to PROMOTE businesses and organizations to GENERATE income and become profitable.

Take Two: My Purpose is to… Develop authentic relationships while I COMMUNICATE and ENGAGE with business organizations allowing me to PROMOTE their brand and GENERATE income being more profitable.

I’ll continue to work on my purpose statement, it needs to be shortened! It’s pretty straight forward and to the point! This didn’t surprise me being a Marketing Professional. Then I heard a couple of people read theirs aloud and I immediately felt my statement was too corporate. Others sounded inspiring, motivational, and even spiritual to some degree. Here I was the corporate queen with a harsh corporate purpose. I will say that I love what I do, and I’m passionate about it.

We’ll see what my final purpose statement ends up being and as the weeks go on I’ll share where I am in this “Leading On Purpose” journey. Special Thanks to Lynette Lewis for this AMAZING opportunity and the support of the group leaders. I’ve even enlisted help from my friends. Stay Tuned…

error: Ask And You Shall Receive!!