Rabbit Food

If I liked eating rabbit food, I would look like someone who ate rabbit food.  ~Moi


It is no real secret that I don't like salad, or raw carrots for that matter. To me those things taste like cardboard. Not that I don't like my veggies and fruits, I just like them cooked... and covered in butter. The true reality is that I like, no LOVE food. All kinds. I can't even pick a favorite, because I'm afraid one of the others might get jealous and stop agreeing with my taste buds, or even worse, my digestive system.

You may be thinking, "What [TF] does this have to do with  positive choices or success?", well... lots. You see, there's a lot of us out there who have to make daily and hourly decisions based on what we like and what we have to do. Just the facts of life.

There is a dreamland that I like to visit where eating red meat, smoking and drinking are not only acceptable behaviors, but healthy. As a matter of fact last night I had a dream about eating a HUGE plate of fluffy white cake with butter cream frosting while having the best chilled mocha and a tasty smoke. Sounds sad, but true. I also looked great. The reality is, if I eat what I want, when I want, do what I want when I want, the next 10 years of my life will definitely be the last and I'll spend them lounging around on the couch looking like the sexiest Jaba you've ever seen.

We all have to make choices, some are easy, some are hard. I'm trying to be here for you to help you make them match the goals that you have set for yourself. I bounce around a bit, because everyone has different goals, but the desire to build will power and instincts are all the same.

So, sit back, pretend that the rice cakes are the best smoked ribs EVER and hopefully you learn something... or at least get a good laugh out of it.

Have a Blessed Day,

Brandy Deming

CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/brandy.deming

Jim Rohn Day 1

Time for my tribute to Jim Rohn, he passed away in December of 2009. Definitly one of my favorite inspirational speakers.

"There are always a half-dozen things that make 80 percent of the difference. A half-dozen things.

"Whether we are working to improve our health, wealth, personal achievement or professional enterprise, the difference between triumphant success or bitter failure lies the degree of our commitment to seek out, study, and apply those half-dozen things."
-Jim Rohn

In an article I once read, it stated that the average number of things most people can remember is 7 things. I disagreed, there are 7 sins and 7 dwarfs, I can never remember all of them. Usually I remember 6. So a half-dozen things are easy to remember.

Thinking on this concept I tried to apply it to many aspects of life, it turned out to be so very true. Having read lots of self-help, inspirational and instructional books; they all say the same things from different angles. Could it be because there are really only 6 things we need to work on to improve our lives? Let's take a look:

Health:

1. Exercise at least 20 min, 4 times a week
2. Eat whole grains
3. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables
4. Avoid Fat
5. Eat Lean Meats (may fall under #4)
6. Watch Your Portions

That's about it. Easier listed then applied, but those 6 things can create a world of difference.

Personal Development:

1. Do what you say you're going to do.
2. Keep in contact with friends.
3. Spend time with your family.
4. Read something inspiring every day.
5. Do something good for someone else at least once a week.
6. Be abundant with gratitude.

Hmm... There seems to be a pattern here.

Business:

1. Write it down! (goals, daily planner, business plan and marketing plan)
2. Keep a good contact list.
3. Follow up with customers and potential customers.
4. Try to meet at least 5 new people every week.
5. Do something every day to advance your business.
6. Know when to get help.

Some may vary business to business, but there are certainly only a few things that make the biggest difference. If you get in the habit of doing #1 then 2-6 will fall into place.

Personal Finance:

1. Save then spend.
2. Know your wants vs. needs.
3. If you can't pay cash for it, you don't need it.
4. Planning leads to success.
5. The best things in life are truly free.
6. Know when to get help. (one of my personal mantras)

I'm pretty sure I can go on all day with my lists of 6, but that would be dull. There is a pretty easy way to make your own list of 6.

First write down what you want to accomplish (weight, happiness, savings), then think about what has to be done to get there (lose weight, have friends, better spending habits), write out as many of those things that have to be done as you possibly can. Then go over your list and find those 6 things that everything on your list has in common. Keep that list posted on your bathroom mirror so you read it every day. That way you know what to concentrate on!

Have a Blessed Day,

Brandy Deming

CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz

Visualization and Action

I would visualize things coming to me. It would just make me feel better. Visualization works if you work hard. That's the thing. You can't just visualize and go eat a sandwich.
-Jim Carrey



When trying to change your life in any way, using positive affirmations is an incredibly useful tool. I know there are many people who have never heard of this concept so I'll start with a brief explanation:

Positive affirmations is a positive activity that you want to have happen. They are written as if they have already happened. Your affirmations should be read at least once a day, though twice is twice as good. They are especially effective if red before going to bed and again when you first wake up. Mine are written in a card that I carry around with me everywhere. Here are some examples of affirmations for different situations:

For losing weight: I am 130 lb. I am a healthy, fit, energetic person.

For quitting smoking: I am smoke-free. I am breathing better.

For school: I am a college graduate. I am passing all my tests.

For business: I am attracting the right customers to my business. I am attracting wealth in abundance.

If you have any questions about your affirmations, or would like some assistance, you can always contact me and I will be glad to help.

Affirmations must be used in combination with activities to assist in reaching your goals. You cannot repeat 100 times a day that you are going to be healthy and fit, then not exercise and eat fast food 3 times a day. Affirmations are there to push your subconscious mind into creating positive choices through your day.

Just like hypnotherapy and subliminal messaging, without a real drive and personal interest in making changes, affirmations cannot work by themselves. Your day should be punctuated by the positive choices you have made. Celebrate your success and the success of others. Many small steps will construct the journey of your life.

Success Corner: I want to congratulate Terry, Angie and Tammy for their recent positive choice to make a better life for themselves, both financially and health wise. They have done what a lot of people choose not to, they have committed to daily activities to grow a business and live healthy lives. Way to go!

Have a Blessed Day,


Brandy Deming



CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz

The General Joy and Rapture of At-Home Work

I have to say the best and worst thing about working at home is working at home. The daily ability to decide what I’m going to do, when I’m going to do it and how I’m going to do it has been the ultimate freedom that I have enjoyed over the last 5 years. Though there has been many, many days when I really wanted (and sometimes needed) someone to tell me what I needed to do, how to do it and when it needed to be done. This is the fun and frustration of being at home.


I don’t know about you or your life, but I can spend days on end just tending to my family and home. I can get up in the morning, get my son on the bus, go to the gym, tend to my chore list, run errands, fix meals, help with homework, spend a little quality time with my family and end my day feeling like I have worked 16 hours (because I just did!) and never, ever have one second to actually work on my business. I am continually amazed at parents that can keep a family and house in order on top of pulling off a 50 hour work week (they say it’s 40 hours, but we all know we’re ‘at work’ for at least 50). All I have to do to keep myself on track is to think of the commute, the boss and daycare, the trinity of office work nightmares.


One of the other bitter-sweet facts of working at home is that you are home, all the time. There is nothing I love more than being able to put my son on the bus to school and being there when he gets off the bus (other than the days we play hooky and have fun around town together). When he needs me, I am there. I don’t have to call into work, I don’t have to worry about being fired and no-school days don’t make me freak-out about where he’s going to go. On the other hand, I am always home. There are three words that come out of the mouths of friends and family that make me cringe… ‘Are you home?’ I’ve recently taken to saying, ‘Um, I’m at the office.’, this usually gets me at least 10 more minutes of calm before they call back with ‘I thought you worked at home?’. You get called on everything from going out to coffee, to volunteering at the school , to picking up prescriptions. They know your home, therefore you must certainly be available.


All in all, it is a really sweet deal. There days when I would love to pack up my laptop and go into an office where someone else buys the office supplies, takes out the trash and fixes the printer, but the days of sleeping in until 8, not having to ever get in the car and spending extra time with my family outweigh them 25-to-1. Working at home is not as easy as it seems, but can be done with a little organization, prioritizing and boundary setting.




Have a Blessed Day,


Brandy Deming


CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz

Faith & Hope

Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go much further than people with vastly superior talent.

-Sopia Loren

There is a sign on a church on the way into town that states, "Hope is praying for rain, Faith is carrying an umbrella." I used to think that hoping for something and having faith in something are one in the same. After thinking on it more over the last few months, a striking difference has occurred to me. I want to thank whoever put that up on the churches billboard.

When we hope for something, it may or may not happen. We tend to make a backup plan in case things go wrong. Not that there is anything particularly wrong with ever having a backup plan. But it means we have explored our own doubts about the outcome of the situation. We have allowed ourselves an out if things don't go the way we want them to.

Putting our full faith in to something takes away any doubt that it will happen. There is no back up plan, no doubt, only the honest, true belief that this outcome will happen. Knowing that something has to be, often gives us more motivation and pushes us farther. Just like love, there is risk, but we put all other cares aside.

So how does this drive us?

When trying to accomplish a goal, going to college, loosing weight, building a business, we have to have some form of hope or faith to get us through difficult situations that come with reaching any goal. Hope can get us so far. We can hope we pass a test, hope we lost weight, we can capture that customer. Hope can get us so far. Hope is like gambling, we could make it/we could not.

To assure success you must have faith that you can do what you put your mind to. You have to push all doubt out of your mind. Write down your goal, visualize yourself accomplishing that goal, make sure that you KNOW that you will succeed.

When you start living with less and less doubt in your life, you will be amazed at what you see. You stand taller, talk with more confidence and are just more at ease with yourself and those around you. When we are more sure of ourselves, the world sees it, likes it and wants to know your why.

Have a Blessed Day,


Brandy Deming

CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com

http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz

Deep Practice

To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness.

-Confucius (551BC - 479BC)

Out of every class or book we read, no matter how bad, we can find one or two gems of information and/or wisdom. No matter who we talk to there is always something new we can learn from them . One of my favorites for the week is the term 'Deep Practice'. Here in the West if we know the basics of how to do something, we know it. In the East, we don't know something until we know how to do it right. With Eastern Philosophy we would spend lots of time doing the same task over and over again, just to say we know how to do it. This is what Deep Practice refers to.


We too often think of things to practice as physical acts. We practice our music, sports and crafts. But how often do we practice ways of thinking or reacting? Positive thought and positive actions cannot just be something we idly strive towards or tentatively know. We must practice them day in and day out until it becomes part of us. Deep Practice.


You can set up goals for your new positive mindset. Try going an hour without saying or thinking anything negative about anyone else or yourself. Make it to and from a destination without insulting a fellow driver. Set aside time each day to re-affirm the positive things about yourself. You must set aside time to practice your positive lifestyle. The more you practice, the better you will be.


Same goes for your small business. We aren't born with the ability to talk or walk, we practice. So why do so many think that the second we sign up for a home business we become great entrepreneurs. We have to practice it. We must practice our pitch, we must review and learn about our products, we must learn how to approach people, how to set up our demo, etc, etc. Most people have a curve of 6m -12m. A curve being the amount of time it takes you to become proficient in your business. Expect poor results the first 6 months, better results after the first 12 and then you should hit your stride in your 2nd year. This is true about all businesses. Home based and brick and mortar. Expect to loose money your first 2 years. Anything better then that and you ROCK!


Listen to your mother, "Practice makes perfect". Use it for your whole life. Loosing weight, being a good friend, positive thinking and work. The more you work on improving yourself the better you will be.



Have a Blessed Day,


Brandy Deming
CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com

http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz

K.I.S.S.

You don't need to outdo the competition. It's expensive and defensive. Underdo your competition. We need more simplicity and clarity.

-Jason Fried

We all tend to over-complicate our lives. Even taking a shower can be a complex string of choices and options. Do I scrub, wash or exfoliate? Is my hair in need of volume, shine or deep cleansing? Does my skin need more moisture or anti-aging? And that's just the first 15 minutes of our day. Everything has become a complicated with so many options, it can make your head spin.


We need to be less harsh on ourselves and simplify. There is no way of turning back the clock to simpler times, so we must cope with what we have. By simplifying and changing the way we react to stress, our lives can become more livable.


Over-Committed. I find myself in this situation more often then not. We must learn to say No. Do one project at a time. If you haven't finished that basket for the fundraiser on Friday, don't agree to have another one ready by Monday (unless baskets is your business and then go for it!). When your trying to find time to squeeze in a hike for a Scout group, don't agree to host a party the same week. We want to be helpful, make people happy, but too often we sacrifice our happiness for the good of others. Try what you can to do one thing at a time, you'll thank yourself later.


Under-Paid. We often don't get paid what we are worth. We get stuck in a job that we can stand, but as the cost of living goes up, our pay doesn't. And when we actually do get a raise, it's never quite enough. There are several ways to try and cope with this. Don't be afraid to ask for a raise. There has been plenty of times when someone is complaining how they haven't had a raise in years, but never asked. Leave your options open. Don't accept that just because things have always been one way, they will always be that way. Do a search every couple of months to see what else is out there. And if there is an opening for what you do and the pay is higher, go for it. Turn your hobbies into money. There are lots of services that people are willing to pay for. If you quilt, start letting people know that you teach classes, or create patterns to sell online. Work on cars? A little back yard wrench slinging can pull in some cash. Like books? There are ample opportunities to buy and resell books. Two for one, you get to shop then you get to sell!


Not Appreciated. We don't get thanked for a lot of things we do. Start patting your own back! make sure you take time each week to award yourself for all that you do!


Over-Worked. Business owners and the working person both have this problem. We want to get more done then our competitors, make sure we get that raise. So we add more hours to our work week. We need to work effectively and we can't be effective if we are run down. We skip our breaks, lunch and then stay an hour or two later. Even if you feel that you get more done in that extra hour then you've gotten done all day, chances are you'd get more done within that 8 hours if you had some time during the day to refresh yourself. Take a break. 15 minutes of stretching or a brisk walk not only will help you feel energized, but will add a better boost to your day then an extra espresso. Quit at quitting time. At least twice a week, stop working when you are supposed to. That extra hour or two will add much more ease to your life and boost your work then the little extra money you would have earned working late.


Just take a look at all you are doing, be proud of what you accomplish. Take time for you and your family to increase your relaxation and inner happiness. See what you can cut out of your life if you are over-committed. Above all, don't take any of it too seriously, life is temporary after all!



Have a Blessed Day,


Brandy Deming
CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com

http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz

Loosing Weight

Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

-Reggie Leach

In the last year I've gone from 225 to 175 (now back up to 185, stupid not smoking). That's not hype or photo-shopped pictures. That's 12 months of eating light yogurt instead of ice cream, working out instead of going to the movies, being sore and really enjoying working towards a goal.


We are bombarded day in and day out with the possibilities of miracles. Are we living in a magical new world? Can money and a few pills solve our problems? Are there more miracles today, or are we just broadcasting them more? All good questions to ask. I believe in miracles, absolutely. I believe in faith, love and human determination. All this helped push me through that 50 pounds and will continue pushing me through the next 25.


I have listened to a lot of people tell me that they've tried everything to loose weight... then proceeded to tell me that they ate the double whopper at Burger King (but held the cheese!). There are many, many factors in loosing weight, and not every program works for everyone. I chose simple. Diet and exercise. I watch my portions, eat WLF (whole grain, lean meats and fresh foods) and work out like a maniac (4-7x a week between 20min-2hrs). Not everyone can afford the money and time it takes to do this, but you can implement some changes.


Try the +10 a week. Start with 10 push ups, sit ups, dips, jumping jacks, squats, lunges and planks (all three hold for 10 seconds). Then the next week add 10, 20 push ups, sit ups, dips, etc. Do them M-W-F right before your shower, then add in a Tues. or a Saturday. Pretty soon you'll be doing it everyday. Promise yourself that whatever changes you want to commit for a year. If at 2 months, 6 months, 8 months you're not 'feeling' it, keep going. Take a photo of yourself today then look at another one (in the same clothes) in a year. You'll see a difference if you commit to yourself!


This way of acting and committing works for all aspects of life. If you commit a little bit of time every day to reaching a goal, you will. But it's not easy, it's not fast and it's not painless. Everything worth having is worth working for. Commit to YOU!


If you need a personal coach at an affordable rate, let me know. I can direct you to a few, just drop me an email.



Have a Blessed Day,


Brandy Deming


CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings

http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz

Being There

"Effective listening tip: Engage with the person. Ask questions and make comments."

-Mike Robbins

Too often we spend conversations trying to think of something relevant to say, some story of ours that is similar to the story the other person is saying. Concentrating the whole time the other person is talking on what we want to say next. We lose focus on what they are saying and focus on the 'What do I say?'. A great habit to develop is really listen to what that person is saying, think of a question to go into detail, a positive reflective comment. Engage that person, try not to reflect on how to put yourself in the conversation. When you put them first, the conversation will come back around to you. Engage.

Engage in life. Participate, when you go to a class or seminar, engage. Ask questions. Go out of your way to compliment the speaker and those who stood up to speak. It is a difficult thing to get up in front of people and share yourself, let them know how much you appreciate them engaging. When a child has participated in a school play or concert (or anything for that matter) let them know how great it is that they went a step above being there to engaging in the activity. Engaging in a verbal or emotional sense is the non-physical, don't just stand there... do something!

The same thing can be applied to exercise. You hear it in videos all the time 'Engage those abs'. But a lot of folks don't exactly know what they are talking about. A simple exercise to be able to first single out muscles and then engage them is a Tense and Relax. Start with your hands, curl them into balls and then relax, then your forearm muscles, biceps and triceps, shoulders, back etc. Once you do this once a day for a couple of days you'll be able to isolate that particular muscle group. Now when you are working out and you are told to engage that muscle. Tighten it as you are doing the exercise.... that is engaging. I love to engage muscles in everyday activities. I'll engage my abs when driving. Or engage my calves when typing. Little add ons that can add a bit of toning over the long run.

Have a Blessed Day,

Brandy Deming

http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz