-If you know your core values, you can use them to develop your mission statement. Knowing your core values will help you to find the words to write a mission statement that inspires and empowers you to grow towards your mission and become the person you describe. Sometimes it is hard to find the words for how you feel inside, your core values gives you those words.

-You will have a guideline for choosing between opportunities. Let’s face it, we have more opportunities than ever before, and it can all be confusing and overwheming. Knowing your core values will help you make the right choices for yourself. If it doesn’t fit into your values, it really isn’t a good fit for your time and your life.

-You will be more likely to find the Mr./Ms. Right, because you will know who you are and who you are looking for. Knowing your core values helps you when looking for your potential life partner. The person you choose to share you life with should have the same values as yourself or complimentary values. If the person you are dating has not identified their core values yet, help them, it would be in your best interest as well as theirs.

-You can align your career path to nuture who you are. If the company you work for has the same values as you or serves people with the same values, you are more likely to love what you do. Since we spend so many hours of our life working, doesn’t it make since to find a career path we love? If you are feeling stress, overwhelmed, or simply hate your job, co-workers or the office environment you are now in, it could be that the values at work do not match your own. Look for something more in tune to who you are.

These are just a few ways knowing your core values will serve you. It is worth the time and effort to uncover your core values, because using that information to design your life will assist you to Live the Life You Love.

Do you find that you often set goals and are unable to obtain them even with absolute effort? Do you find that the things you set out to do in life simply do not get done, even though you map out a plan and stick with it? Are you persistant, but it simply just does not pay off? You may have unmet needs that are sabotaging your success.

Everybody has needs and not just basic needs, but there are a whole array of needs that provide the details of who we are as individuals. Unmet needs are high level motivators in the choices we make and the force behind our driven actions and behavior. If you are not acheiving your dreams then you need to define your unmet needs and take the responsiblity to meet those needs yourself. Once we become adults we are responsible for meeting our own needs, regardless if the adults in our lives met our needs when we were children.

Here is an example of how to meet your own needs. Say you identified you had a need to be loved and accepted. A way to provide that for yourself is to join groups of people who share some of the same ideas and values as you do. You might consider joining a church, a networking group, a volunteer organization or a club based on an interest you have. From there you would go to the meetings, make new friends and form lasting relationships. You did not count on anyone else to decide which groups to join, who to get to know within the group, or who to form the long lasting relationships with, you took the actions and made the decisions. While it takes time to go through the steps, the process in itself is rather simple. Most people think they have to wait for someone to come along and love them, but you can take actions to make your life what you want and to get your own needs met.

For further information about unmet needs go to www.livethelifeyoulove.com/telecourses.html here you can sign up for a free one hour teleclass and get a unmet needs assessment.

We have all used music from time to time to set the mood, but there are times to use music to make your environment match who you are. These are situations that we do not think about, but could make our day so much better, and make our stress levels decline. Music is empowering, can enhance performance, bring back memories, and just make your day a little brighter. Have you guessed what I am talking about? I am talking about playing music in your office. For most of us unless the office pipes in music, we do not think about providing our own. Music in the office is a great way to nurture yourself while you work.

What type of music would you use at work to keep your stress down and peak your performance? For me it is a balance of what I like and what provides a great rhythm for my personal work beat. Many times, I change the type of music to suit my mood and to blend nicely with the type of work I am performing. For example, I play soft classical music or new age music when I am actually working with clients, to help me keep my energy, emotions and focus balanced. If I am completing paperwork that needs high levels of concentration, I avoid listening to music with words. If I am performing routine tasks, such as filing, or going through email, then I play faster up beat music, similar to what I would choose to listen to while cleaning the house. So what my mind needs, or wants dictates the type of music I choose.

It is a good practice to strategize your music around your tasks and have a variety of music to choose from. Have several styles nearby so that if your schedule changes or you have an office crisis, you can change your music strategy to fit the situation. Music in the workplace can upgrade your quality of life, and change your attitude toward working, or at least improve your outlook a little. If you are looking for small ways to live life on your terms, music is one way to do that without stirring things up, depending on the music you choose.

Starting tomorrow, at least consider having your own music in your work area. Do not infringe on anybody else, just keep it at levels where you can hear it without disturbing others. Try it for a week and see if you notice any slight changes in your life or attitude. After a week, if you find this makes your life a little better, consider where else in your life you can add a little music to enhance your lifestyle. We all want a better life and to feel good. Music is an easy way to make a lifestyle improvement.

What ideas can you share that are small and cost effective lifestyle improvements?

Self-Care is vitally important for all, and especially for those who run their own business or work outside of the home. Let me repeat, self-care is vitally important for all. Let me explain. I am a life coach, and how I open the gateway to new clients is with a complementary coaching session. During that session, almost every person I speak with sought out the complimentary session because of financial issues. What was right in front of their eyes was a crisis concerning their finances. Usually the crisis has been building for a considerable amount of time and currently they are looking at the possibility of losing their business, their home, and for some time they have been deceiving their family and themselves about the situation. Many times the situation is not that dire, but I have even had many people sign up for my marketing tele-classes for a business that is no longer viable. Often many are in the process of filing for bankruptcy or already have. Others are in the process of vacating a building, and other varieties of ways they are exiting their business in a less than successful manner. For these people this is a time of great fear, and great embarrassment in their lives.

During the course of the complimentary session, I find a majority of these people let their self-care go before the real money issues came about. They let their self-care go in order to have more time to chase after dollars, and yet the dollars ran in the other direction. Let me tell you why this happens. First, as most dogs can tell you, if they spoke our language, chasing is not about catching, it is about the thrill of the chase. Second, as each of these people let their self-care go, they began to feel worse and worse about themselves in little ways. As they skipped something that made them feel good, their attitude changed, pushing just a little of the positives in their daily lives away from them. As their self-care continues to dwindle their stress mounts, their energy and their health begin to fade. Their business starts to become a burden. They are not able to keep their focus and become reactive and more prone to putting out fires in their business rather than focus on the necessary actions they need to take to have a successful business. All their actions become fear related, their lack of confidence starts to show, and most people will not do business with them, and they are attracted to someone who takes care of himself or herself instead.

When I started my business, the platform I choose was on self-care, and self-care continues to be a big and important part of my platform today. The reason for that is it simply made since to me, that if I was not taking care of myself, then I could not know whom I was, not really. I was simply acting or reacting the way I have been taught throughout my life. If I wanted to know MY values, who I was with no labels, and build a strong personal foundation for me, those around me and my business, that self-care was where I needed to begin. From there I could define MY values and align my business with my values, and create my business plan. I think that most people listening can understand this and see how self-care supports their business, but let me take this a few steps further and then I will define what self-care is, because I think there is a misconception about the term ‘self-care’.

The majority of the people with whom I speak, do not know what their values are. When I ask many about their values, list their favorite cash assets or phases that define their current labels, such as family, friends. I hear things such as ‘Oh I value my home, my family, I love my car, it is so great and I have never had a problem with it, it never lets me down, and my husband’. Those are typical responses when I ask ‘what are your top 4 values’. As many of you know values are phrases that help you define whom you are no matter who is around you, who you are related to, what is in your bank account, or what you own. To make this clear, if someone is hard to deal with, we call him or her an ‘ass’. An ass without money is a bigger ass with money, the bigger they are the bigger an ass they become. So looking at the issues in our society right now, I think most people can put this example into use when looking at some of the less than popular choices some of the corporations and politicians are making right now. You recognize these people whose walls are crumbling down. People taking advantage of bailouts, people in the spotlight caught having affairs, and the other woes of the famous. What this all boils down to is that most people open a business, enter relationships, and step into big picture situations, creating dilemmas, because they do not know who they are. You cannot make a business, a relationship, or anything else work long term unless you know whom you are.  Understanding that many people who open a business do it to make money, I think most people have a great misunderstanding as to what a business can do for them, and who works for what. If your goal is just to make money, then go out and get a job. The fact is that many business owners could make more money working part time for MacDonald’s than they can in their business. If they do not know who they are, and do not know what inspires them they will not be able to sustain and grow a business. You have to have a passion for your business to keep you going, and many times the flames of passion are short term and burn out, just like a crush, or an infatuation.

The third thing that most people do not have when I talk to them is a business plan, or if they do, they wrote it just for getting funding and do not take it seriously for running their business and defining the actions they need to take to make their business successful. There are many resources to fix this issue, once the self-care and values issues are address, and this by far is the easiest one to fix. Okay, so what we have are people trying to run a business and manage their own lives who do not take care of themselves, do not know who they are and don’t have a plan. This huge problem grows and grows. You may be laughing now, because this sounds very ridiculous, but if you are honest, many of you have just heard me define your life and your business. Now that you know what the problem is, go to my website or email me and we will set up a complimentary session and help you get things together for yourself. It is the first step and it is just that easy to get started moving in the right direction to live the life you love.

Now let us define self-care because there are many misconceptions about what self-care is, even amongst coaches, and others who provide aspects of self-care, but not the whole picture. Self-care is everything you do to take care of you. It includes, grooming, hygiene, health, fitness, nutrition, stress elimination, finances, image, dress, dental, and everything else from the simple daily routines to major procedures you may need. It includes gratitude for what you have, and rituals to help you focus on what you want to improve in your life. If you are great at diet and exercise, but have a filthy car inside that no one can see unless they are getting into your car, then you are great in one area of self-care and not so great in another. People can define what their self-care needs are for themselves. For example, I do not go get my nails done. I do not like having my nails done, I think it hurts sometimes and the idea of getting my nails done causes me stress, so that is not in my definition of self-care. I also have a weight issue, something I cannot hide, and this is where I am not in integrity with my self-care. I cannot say that I can self-define that I can skip this issue in self-care, because the consequences are too great for other aspects of my life and other self-care topics. I think most of you see the point I am making. Self-care is about taking care of the whole you. What it is not is just fitness, or diet, nor is it about ‘work-life balance’, which is what I heard so much of when I first started coaching, ‘oh, you must talk about that squishy topic of work, life balance’. Self-care is the very bottom line of the foundation on which you build you life and business. This is why self-care is so very important, and why I started my business on this platform, to help you and to help me.

I hope that today you decide that you are important enough to take better care of yourself no matter how well you are practicing self-care currently.

Oh, that snow! It is so drying to the skin. Our faces are always exposed the most. We dry out, we break out, and we have cracks in our faces. We want to preserve our faces as young forever. How can it be that the area of our body we want to look the best has to survive the harshest of elements and is so often the only area exposed? We have to do everything we can to keep are faces beautiful. We have to save our faces. Knowing the winter will end is simply not enough. We have to take action.

My favorite product line for facial skin care is Philosophy. The Philosophy line is fantastic for skin care and was developed by someone who suffered from facial challenges. I also love their bubble baths, they can be used as bubble bath, shower gel and shampoo. The bubble baths smell like desserts! The facial skin care products are absolutely the best I have ever used. If you want to escape the winter blahs, try the Philosophy Surfer Girl Product line. It contains flavored lip shine(mango, with a hint of something else, I think), shower gel and a shimmer lotion. I love it!

Spring cannot arrive soon enough! The beach calls me every hour. In the meantime we need to care for our faces so they will be youthful and beautiful long after the rest of our bodies have worn out. Practicing fanitastic skin care is my Philosophy. What is yours?

Warmly,

Margaret

I am getting ready to speak at a virtual summit and I have been considering what to wear. I know it seems like what I wear would not matter since no one will see me, but if I want to sound great I need to feel great. When selecting my wardrobe choices for the day I always consider what foundation garments I am going to wear. The foundation choices sometimes dictate what I wear on the outside, but mainly what I wear on the outside dictates my foundation choices. I like to wear matching foundation sets, and I am the one who puts together the sets, for function and comfort. When speaking I dress very well, from the foundation to the hair, make-up, jewery and scent, even if my appearance is in a virtual format.

What is my foundation secret for feeling great and best fit for function and comfort? Well, Victoria’s Secret, of course. The staff at the stores are trained to be able to get you the best bra fit. Our bodies change every so often, so I would suggest that you get refitted at least once a year. Victoria’s Secret has a great selection and a variety of styles to fit every body. The few times I have tried other brands and stores, I have regretted it. Victoria’s Secret is the only choice for me.

In my business, when working with a new client, if things are falling apart, it always starts with them letting go of their self-care. Never let your self-care go, always take steps to take your self-care to the next level. Wearing great undergarments is not something others will see, but they will definately notice a difference and will wonder what it is. You will know that it is you taking better care of yourself.

Overweight? I admit I am, and one thing that I am doing is buying one panty that is a size smaller for my inspiration piece. When I go down a size, I will wear those when shopping for the rest of my smaller wardrobe. It works well and I love looking for nice things for myself. As women we take care of the needs of others, isn’t it nice to have a secret for our self-care.

As promised I will let you know if I am ever compensated for telling you about a product. I have not been compensated.

Snow is beautiful and looks wonderful on the Christmas cards I packed away a few weeks ago. Where we live there are many victorian and colonial homes, light dustings of snow look so storybook like on them. I also like to see animal tracks in the snow. Snow is the silent decorator of the Earth. Nothing covers your brown winter foilage like a blanket of white snow.

The negative side of winter for me is the dry skin. Believe it or not, I also have allergies that act up in winter rather than in spring, summer or fall. I have allergies that attack my skin. For those reasons I go through lotions and cremes very quickly in the winter. I recommend the lotions from Bath and Body Works. I love the flowery scented ones. One of my favorite scents is Moonlight Path. I also really like Enchanted Orchid. Bath and Body Works has several scent collections to choose from and a line for male skin care too.

I think taking care of my skin is very important. I think moist skin not only keeps us looking and feeling younger, but also is a luxury and very pampering. While you might feel a little confined in winter and maybe not be willing to venture out on certain freezing days, a bit of pampering helps you feel more comfortable while staying indoors. This pamering helps protect your skin when you do decide to go out.

Welcome Back! What a wonderful year 2010 is going to be. No one can tell us how our year will turn out except for ourselves. We alone control our destiny, no matter what the media wants us to think. We can choose our own economic, political, and emotional climate. The external events are just that external, and we can choose to leave them out of our lives. So here’s to claiming 2010 as our own personal year to own, to drive our own success and leave the doom and gloom behind. Decide that you alone will determine your own possibilities.

I believe that one of the key elements to support us in our success is comfort. I love to have a sacred place for myself that I can have quiet time away from outside distractions to meditate, read or just enjoy a cup of tea. After taking down the holiday decorations I always feel like the house is a little dusty and drab, so I do a bit of sprucing up. I also love for my home to have a fresh clean smell, so fresh that when people walk through my front door they always say how good my home smells. For this I use Dreft products. Many of you may be familiar with Dreft Laundry Detergent, but did you know that Dreft now has cleaning products and fabric refresher as well? I find mine at Babies R Us and Toys R Us. I love the smell and the feeling of freshness so much that I am willing to make a special trip to those stores if I am out of those products.

My sacred room is my living room. It is decorated in my favorite colors with furnature I inherited from my Grandparents. I love rich mahogany and the contrast of white milk glass. The room is blue with one wall down in tolle wallpaper. The curtains are pulled back taupe silk panels with lace panels underneith. It is an elegant room yet very comfortable. I enjoy remembering my grandparents and nurturing my spirit there.

Do you have a sacred room? Everybody deserves one. I guess you are wondering what this has to do with success. Some of my best ideas come from my moments in my sacred room. They come from the times I go in there just to have some peace and quiet. Taking the time to slow down allows my creative side to flow. I contribute much of my success to spending time in my sacred room.

So this year I have decided to claim my success. I have decided to guide my own destiny. I have decided to focus on getting what I want out of life. I have designed my lifestyle to support me and know that I have everything I need to chart my course to success. Are you with me? Are you willing to take responsibility for the outcome of your 2010? Will this be the year of you?

These are the words at the beginning of the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland. Since I am embarking on a new adventure I thought this would be a great title. I am just learning, so please be patient and kind. The last few days I have been working on getting the electronic media going for my new book The Busy Mom’s Guide to Self Care. It has been trial and error, and I made a small mistake on facebook while someone was watching, but for all of you who will be stepping out to do this soon, I thought I would let you know that trial and error is okay.

This blog is mostly going to be about Self Care topics and with other things on my mind thrown in from time to time. I saw a news story about Mommy Bloggers not disclosing when they get a benefit from a company when reviewing products and services, so although I am not receiving anything right now, if that happens I thought I would be prepared. If I get something I will let you know on the next blog. If something arrives at my door, I will let you know it arrived. If I post something positive about it in the next few weeks, you know it was a winner. If I never mention it again then you know it was not. I may sometimes give a ‘mixed review’ which means I would make suggestions as to what my preference would be for improvement. I think this is the fair way to handle things.

My book The Busy Mom’s Guide to Self Care is due out in September. The first version that will be available is ebook, and then the printed version will be available shortly after. I hope you enjoy it and that it motivates you to take better care of yourself.