I mentioned in last week’s Snack that this week would be full of easy ways to simplify your daily life. Are you ready? I know I am!

I was inspired to dive into this topic by one of my busy, busy, single mom & entrepreneur clients who chose the word SIMPLIFY as her focus word for the next few months. She realized that she was making life way too complicated and busy and it was taking a toll on both her personal health, her business, and her relationship with her kiddos (when mamma is stressed…everyone is stressed!)

Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature” - Thomas a Kempis 
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Here are my Top 10 Ways to SIMPLIFY your daily life:

• Look at your Time Commitments VERY carefully - most of us have filled our days full from beginning to end with time commitments: work, home, kid’s activities, community events, religious endeavors, hobbies… the list goes on. When possible, release yourself from the time commitments that are not in line with your greatest values. Before you say “Yes” to something, take time to pause and sit with it. If it’s not aligned, it’s 100% ok to say “NO”.
• Scale back on the “Stuff” – Too many material possessions complicate our lives to a greater degree than we ever give them credit. They drain our bank account, our energy, and our attention. How much “stuff” do you really need to be happy? Truly, not much.
• Take action on DEBT – If debt is holding you captive, reduce it. Start today. Do what you’ve got to do to get out from under its weight. Find the help that you need and learn how to get out of debt. Sacrifice luxury today to enjoy freedom tomorrow. You will not regret it!
• Scale back on your Goals – Reduce the number of goals you are striving for in your life to one or two. By reducing the number of goals that you are striving to accomplish, you will improve your focus and your success rate. Make a list of the things that you want to accomplish in your life and choose the two most important. When you finish one, add another from your list.
• Cut back on the Chatter– Use fewer words. Keep your speech plain and honest. Mean what you say. Avoid gossip. Save yourself some breath and save others from your long winded rants…
• Learn to tame your Negative Thoughts – Most negative emotions are completely useless. Resentment, bitterness, hate, and jealousy have never improved the quality of life for a single human being. Take responsibility for your mind. Forgive past hurts and replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
• Avoid Multi-Tasking – Research indicates that multi-tasking increases stress and lowers productivity. While single-tasking is becoming a lost art, learn it. Handle one task at a time. Do it well. And when it is complete, move to the next.
• Take a look at your Artificial Ingredients – Avoid trans fats, refined grain (white bread), high-fructose corn syrup, and too much sodium. Minimizing these ingredients will improve your energy level in the short-term and your health in the long-term. Up your daily intake of leafy greens, whole grains, nuts & healthy fats and see how great you start to feel.
• Monitor your Screen Time – Focusing your attention on television, movies, video games, and technology addiction affects your life more than you think. Media rearranges your values. It begins to dominate your life. And it has a profound impact on your attitude and outlook. Unfortunately, when you live in that world on a consistent basis, you don’t even notice how it is impacting you. The only way to fully appreciate its influence in your life is to take a brea
• Reassess your Connections to the World – Relationships with others are good, but constant streams of distraction are bad. Learn when to power off the phone, log off social media, or not read a text. Focus on the important, not the urgent. A steady flow of distractions from other people may make us feel important, needed, or wanted, but feeling important and accomplishing importance are completely different things.

Ok, now I suggest you pick one category that feels like your most out of balance area and focus just on that for the next few days or week. Once that’s feeling more SIMPLIFIED, then pick another. Take positive steps each week to declutter your life and I guarantee you’ll be feeling much lighter real soon!

f you answered “Yes”, don’t worry, you are not alone out there! Those feelings creep up for me now and then, too. And what I’ve come to realize is that sadly a lot of that feeling is simply due to the busy, busy lives we are living. Most people are over obligated, over worked, and just doing the best they can to get from day to day with very little bandwidth left for anything outside of their immediate bubble. They barely take the time to check in and listen to themselves let alone having the energy to do that for others. Sound familiar?

It’s a bit ironic, because I feel like we were almost doing a better job at connecting during the pandemic than we are now as life resumes it’s “normal”, hectic pace.

For me personally, I’ve been dealing with the feelings of loss and disconnect from a lovely group of women who all came together to practice yoga with me during Covid, but who are now heading back out and into their “new normals”. What I remind myself when those feelings come up is that everything ebbs and flows in life. I focus on the lovely connections we did make with each other and the knowing that even though we aren’t together as often, the love we have for each other is genuine and we truly are a “tribe” of sisters. 

So how do you maintain those feelings of connection? How do you ensure that the people you truly do care about aren’t feeling unappreciated or invisible?

It takes effort, but not a lot! 

Here are a few ways you can become a great connector, listener & overall fabulous human being:

• Send a quick check-in text to a friend you haven’t heard from in a bit and set a coffee (or wine) date to catch up
• Plan a “date night” once a month with one or more friends who you are feeling disconnected from
• Invite a friend to join you for a class or activity you were already planning to attend (everything is more fun with a friend!)
• Invite a friend over to cook dinner, help you with some gardening, or sort thought your closet for things to donate (it’s always nice to have a second set of hands or eyes!)
• Organize a book club or discussion group that meets monthly either in person or virtually (zoom still works even though the lock downs are over!)
• Mail a cute greeting card to someone you haven’t seen in a while (guaranteed to create a big, warm smile on the receiving end!)

Sound do-able? Just pick one to focus on this week and see how it goes! What I can guarantee is that the recipient of your efforts will immediately feel the love and it will shine right back at you.
Sound good, but feeling a bit overwhelmed by life? Never fear! Next week I’ll be hitting you with my tips for SIMPLIFYING your day to day life. Hint…it starts with the word “No”…
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Have a lovely week, my friend! Ok! Start connecting!

Yes, it’s Monday…but I decided to give myself a little grace yesterday and not stress out about getting this out to you on time. Hey, a little positive snack is good any day of the week, right?
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So here’s your Monday Snack and a great reminder to start the week off on the right foot by being kind to yourself!

It’s August 8th…you have 147 days of 2022 left…

Not to stress you out or anything, but did you realize that 2022 is more than half gone already? I was thinking about this as I took a good look at my Vision Board I created for this year back in January. I was looking at all the words and images I filled my board with and taking stock of how I’m doing in the manifesting department so far this year.

What I noticed when I looked at all those lofty dreams and ambitions I set for myself was that I’m doing a pretty dang good job! Is it all done? Nope. Have I changed course on a couple of things? Yep. And that’s OK! Because I still have 147 days to keep moving forward in the direction of my dreams.

What I’m celebrating today is that my TOP TWO items - Travel Well” & “Retreat” - are off the charts in the manifesting department. So far this year I’ve taken some of the most amazing trips of my life AND this Friday I leave on yet another one (Costa Rica here we come!). Plus, not only did I lead a truly life changing Women’s Retreat this past January, I’m heading back to the same location with not one but TWO groups of women this October/November for back-to-back Retreats at the Bay of Dreams. Oh, and did I mention that I’ve got a Retreat to BALI booked for next July???

I’m sharing all this with you today because I want to remind you that YOU CAN DO AMAZING THINGS, TOO!! It all starts with a VISION, an INTENTION, and a PLAN!

Are you feeling like the first 219 days of 2022 have been a bit lackluster? Is there still so much you’d like to reach for, but you just don’t know how to get started? Have you convinced yourself that those dreams just aren’t for “someone like you”?

Well, my friend, I’m here to bonk you on the head with a little Life Reinvention Coach kind of reminder…

If you can dream it, you can do it! (thank you Walt Disney for that one!) Oh, and I’m here to help if you need a bit of encouragement, guidance, and motivation. It’s what I do!
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See you next Sunday for your regularly scheduled Sunday Snack!