Super Saturday tomorrow with Anny

Super Saturday tomorrow! Can't wait to share this with Anny my eldest daughter . 

She's one of my biggest supporters of my career change to coaching. Let's see what the day brings! 

~Jedi 

Cursed Cardio Day

It was almost about 7:00 I think and I still hadn't exercised. As you know that is so not like me. Jedi is usually up and all done with that sort of thing by 6:00am, so to be getting it in that late was so weird for me. My daughter wasn't feeling so great from her eczema - the poor thing has these flare ups . Then I got to thinking : flex your entrepreneurial muscle today . It's your earned right to just keep her home if she's not up to going into pre-K. It'd be one thing if she were in the older grades, but not this little munchkin . I felt really bad for her; and it was so nice, I must admit, to just snuggle under the blankets on the sofa and watch a movie with her. I waited 11 years to be able to do this with one of my girls: not have to send them in to school sick or have to scramble at the last minute to see if a friend or someone could help out, most of the time changing my schedule was not gonna work, or I'd lose the money and could never afford to take the risk. 

I am very grateful that I can at any moment make that choice. Well today I did and it was a reflection on my decision last year to truly focus all my energy on wellness (myself and others), that I made the right choice. The road less traveled can often be lonely. You make others uncomfortable when you suddenly disrupt the norm, everyone begins to question themselves and what 'they' are doing; your decision causes self-reflection in others - like holding a mirror to their own faces, and typically they do NOT like what they see. They want you to just stop all that shit and go back to the status quo, no rocking, no molecule disrupting, haha. But it doesn't work that way, does it? You're not going to compromise your values and your dreams so that others don't have to get uncomfortable. 

Today I discovered through a value conversation with my partner that we actually diverge in our dreams and belief systems. It will be a lonely road for me, as I had hoped my vision would create teamwork , but that is not to be after all. I can accept it but I'm not happy about it. Still I'd chose reality any day of the week over kicking a tire, which is what I seem to be doing lately. 

After finally getting in my workout belfry 8:00pm -- phew I hate exercising at night . I don't know how people can do that! I will definitely avoid this again. The excuse to tend to Regina, my mother's namesake, my last princess was worth it.  Can I still say I cursed out Autumn several times. I think the girls heard me, lol. 

Until tomorrow then ! 

Jedi 

CIZE of your confidence

So here I am preparing for my new group fitness class in dance: CIZE

It starts next Monday. I know my heart is in it, I feel great when I'm in the middle of doing it, and my mission to help others slim down and gain confidence is always foremost in my mind. With that, I feel less nervous. Anytime you lead with goodness and honesty, you can't go wrong. There's a place for you. There is success and care coming your way because your intentions are based in love and concern. 

Like anyone, I've got those first-time jitters. Wondering will the equipment fail (like my Mac blows up, I forget some rhythm) I guess any of those things could happen, but I'll try to stack the deck against that of course! 

It's funny to remember Shaun T is July, muscular and such a 'large' presence in that auditorium teaching us...class #1...

What a terrific momento to put in your scrap book. Shaun T, so humble and sincere. You want to just reach out and hug the guy - his heart is so big. I remember the music, the original choreography from that day, our breakout groups, people in my class, my assistants...

I'm laughing still because seriously if someone had said to me: "Julie, a year from now you will not be sitting in your corporate office, you will be launching a class, and you will be leading others in a healthy lifestyle .." I don't know. Would I have thought they were on crack? Perhaps! Yea. 

It's been a year of growth in confidence for me. I've overcome so much too. Not that everyday isn't a struggle; my weakness is always my family and my intimate relationships. Somehow I can lead in so many other areas yet get all snared in the love twist. I guess that's the part I am still trying to unearth and refine. 

Always a work in progress. 

Memory Board & My Single Days

Tonight I posted about a board I have in my house, well actually it was more like the attic, because unfortunately I have moved dozens of times in the last 8 years and this poor thing keeps getting packed and unpacked - I got it in a junk sale I think and painted it red to match my earth tones of my home in Port Jefferson and then Huntington. I was almost 30 and getting divorced from my first husband. I was a single mom with my daughter Anne split between our respective homes half the week. Our divorce was very bitter and cost me about $40K. Hard to believe even now what that kind of money could do for me now . 

But this board meant a lot because I saved the little momentos from our years together before I remarried . I referred to them as 'dark times' and they did seem dark then but someone reminded me this evening that they're not really dark, just different. They were ours and no one else's. We made the best of what we had and we have fond memories now. She and I did so many activities! Theatre, games, after school activities, horses, trips to beach and Maine; she still loves apples as much as she did then too. I loved her crafty butterflies and her photo from her preschool cubby. I'll never forget her napkins where she drew Turkeys for Thanksgiving. She was always the artist. 

I often talk about the program now as a coach serving as my beacon through rough times . When I was single I endured much hardship and I had to remember to keep a lot of it from her, or at least try to; I was hustling 3 jobs, and still finishing my doctoral degree. I just remember being very confused, tired, and often angry. But we had some of the most amazing times together. She was my beacon then and I'm glad I'm around to show her the best of me now. 

Tonight I shared my dream board of 2016 with her. She has faith in me she says. I am honored to have her as a daughter. Thank you for believing in me the way I once did in you. 

Value

There was a time in my 20s when I thought having a dozen friends was a sign you 'were' somebody. I can clearly remember putting up with friends for example who would rarely come to visit me, or always forget my birthday, or how about this: only come to me for guidance and stress reduction, but never offer a kind word, their ear, or shoulder when I needed it. And I kept making the effort to help them because I thought 'that' kind of giving and extending would translate to some value they would see in me, and from that, change. 

Oh no. 

That is so not how this game of life works. That is not the kind of giving and receiving we need to be a part of at all. 

I decided I would give value to those who expressed kindness and honesty (even if it hurt - that's ok), and gave back to me in whatever small way they could. I never measured that return. But those who belittled me, or violated my trust, or were unwilling to 'see', had to go. 

You get to a certain point where you just realize you have a right to 'be' and do not exist for the disposal of others. 

#mondaymatters

Don't stop dreaming !

Today I did a very fun activity using my phone as well as my hands - the tangible - the love that goes into making something is really important and key to making what you want happen. I created a dream board this evening with all the things I want to accomplish this year of 2016.  

Some of these images represent business goals as a entrepreneur & wellness coach and some pertain to just sheer joyful activities I will get from having accomplished those goals. I shared this with my inner circle of coaches - a group of bad-asses like I am, who set goals and do them! We make sure we know 'why' we are choosing them, how we feel doing them, and how we will execute. 

 

I actually had made a vision board last year when I had only been a coach for one month. I had little idea what I was getting into, but my own mentor said,  'make it'. Wouldn't you know it? All of the things put down came true. 

So here I am again and oh man! Do I have some big dreams this year! And I won't settle for the mediocre. 

I did that for too many years- being cautious , always going the middle road, not standing out too much. 

At 41, there are things I want to enjoy and I'm going to make sure my daily activities point with a huge arrow towards those. 

When was the last time you listened to your heart about what you want to enjoy? Do you even know or bother ? I bet you have stopped. Why? 

There is something so innate and healthy about dreaming. Children do it of course and often young adults. But somewhere along the line, we kill it. You know what disappears with dreaming ? Our creative juices. They are stirred when we dream . 

I ask you to take some time today to continue dreaming. Make a dream board with me . 

I would love to see it too. 

~Jedi 

Welcome to a New Year

I had stopped writing in my blog when I was over in Moscow this summer. I think just being abroad and all the pressures of  dealing with time zone change and a foreign system had me overwhelmed. I'm back though.  

Hopefully someone out there is happy to see the Jedi blogging again. I tell ya what... I'm gonna hold myself to it. 

So many people 'begin' the new year disgusted at what they didn't accomplish. If I could say one thing to you, I would share this:

Don't be like everyone else. Don't start another year today promising yourself something is going to be different. It will only be different IF you make it so. You. 

I stuck out one (1) solid year of 2015 on exercising and eating right. At times I'm asking myself 'How did I pull this off?' Because it was not a cake walk - no pun on those sugars, haha. 

It means so much more that I can look at the difference I see in me over one year. I hope that for you too. To be able to revel in this moment when you can say you stuck to something because YOU wanted it for yourself - not that someone forced it on you. 

I think the best laid plans come from when you want it just for no other reason than you decided to dream and came up with that very dream: to feel better about yourself. (Or whatever it may be)

Can you listen to yourself ? No frills, no fancy, no fuss and just shut up for once? What is your SELF trying to say to you? 

We are constantly ignoring 'us'. 

We say 'shut up'. 

We say 'you shouldn't be thinking that ... feeling that.'

Just shut up for once. Will ya? Listen, already!