How to Create More Joy

We can all use more joy!

Joy is empowering. 

Joy is expanding. 

Joy is actually a natural state for you, it’s just that most of us have been conditioned to think it’s not. 

Today I wanted to give you some ideas for cultivating more joy, empowerment and expansion. The more you feel it, the more natural it seems. 

1. Be intentional about joy. Look for it. Notice it. Putting on a lovely body cream can give you joy. But not if you’re rushed and not paying attention. It becomes one more thing to do. Let the small mundane things in life be part of cultivating joy. Set the intention to notice how lovely that cream is and how good it feels on your body! Then think of ten other mundane things in your day you can turn into little hits of joy! 

2. Small things matter. These tulips I bought for $10 have been bringing me joy for days! It’s a small thing, but because I am intentional about creating joy, those tulips become a hit of joy! 

3. Be grateful and appreciative for the many things in your life that bring you joy! A few big things might come to mind right away; a relationship that brings you a lot of joy, your home, or a recent vacation, but don’t forget the small things that you probably take for granted; the way your heart beats without you asking it to, the fact that you have hot water you can access by turning on the tap… every day, all day! The books you have or the beautiful clothes you have (even if you have some you don’t think are beautiful) we are surrounded by so many wonderful things! Being grateful for them increases the joy in our lives. 

What do you say, how about we work on cultivating more joy, together! My week started with the tulips. What will you do to cultivate joy in your life today? Hit reply and let me know!

Divergent thinking and access to creative problem solving

So, what is creative Divergent thinking? Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. 

The goal of divergent thinking is to generate many different ideas about a topic in a short period of time. Following divergent thinking, the ideas and information will be organized using convergent thinking; i.e., putting the various ideas back together in some organized, structured way. You can use divergent thinking activities as quick warm-ups to activate creativity or as a brain-break in the middle of a more analytical task.

In today’s episode of Liberate Your People Pleaser I’m going to dig deep on this topic with my guest,Bella Englebach. Bella Englebach has been applying divergent thinking to operations and R&D for over fifteen years. Trained as a scientist, she helps people to see that the heart of “lean” improvement is the scientific method. She works with leaders and managers to create environments where problems can be seen, innovative solutions can be discovered and tested, and people can truly drive improvement.

What you will discover:

- What is Divergent thinking, and how to access it?

- How do we start to lose our creativity?

- What is the difference between divergent thinking & conversion thinking ?

- Why getting attached to Ideas is dangerous?

And much more… Listen to today’s episode HERE

If you like Today’s Episode, please don’t hesitate to post a 5-Stars review if you’re listening to the Podcast on Apple iTunes or Spotify and leave us a review telling us how our podcast helped you in a specific aspect of your life. It makes me so happy to see listeners' feedback because it motivates me to create content that is impactful for you and other listeners.

I Bet You’ve Surprised Yourself Lately

This has been the year of doing things differently. 

Everyone has changed their lifestyle to adapt to a covid world. 

There are more unknowns than ever. 

We used to plan events, parties, celebrations and gatherings. 

We used to go to concerts, the Theater, get on trains and planes when we wanted to. 

We’re all wondering, “when will things get back to “normal,” or something remotely close. 

With all that uncertainty and change in the way we live, every single day, I bet you’ve done some pretty awesome shit! 

I bet you’ve surprised yourself. 

I’ve seen it on Facebook and Instagram. 

You’ve gotten creative with your kids - even when it comes to having to homeschool them! Now that’s something! 

You’ve gotten creative with how you run your business or do your job - probably from home, even if you’ve never done that before. 

You’ve gotten creative in relationships. How do I get along with my partner or spouse when suddenly we’re both home, working and dealing with the kids, 24/7, with no escape like going out to dinner or taking a spa day or weekend away? 

You’ve gotten creative with friendships and extended family to figure out how to stay connected when we can’t get together physically. 

You’ve improvised and innovated in dozens of ways. 

Perpetual, creative response. 

It’s a super-power skill in the unknown. 

And let’s face it, there is no sign that living in the unknown is ending anytime soon, so let’s get even better at it. 

Let’s keep surprising ourselves with what we’re capable of!  

In August I’m going to give you two opportunities to uplevel your perpetual, creative response skills. 

I’ll be having a fun, free, five-day Facebook Challenge. I’ll email you a morning pep-talk with a fun, fast assignment for the day. When you post your assignment in the FB Group you’ll qualify for a fun prize! Each day will inspire and motivate you to creatively respond to the unknown. 

I’ll be leading a virtual workshop, Own Your Brilliance. Because you know, you are… brilliant. Whether you see it or not. We all have our own secret-sauce of magic and brilliance. The Own Your Brilliance Workshop will teach you how to intentionally cultivate and curate the Brilliance that is already inside you. You don’t need to fix anything or change anything. You just need some badass tools to uncover and use it. 

More to come on these two events for August including getting signed up so you get all the goodies! 

For now, tell me, what’s at least one way you’ve surprised yourself lately? Don’t be afraid to say it. It’s not bragging. It’s telling the truth about yourself. There’s nothing more inspiring and powerful.

Do you ever struggle to own your truth?

I’ve spent most of my adult life finding and owning my truth.

Some people seem to come into the world knowing who they are and that they can accomplish anything they set their mind to. I love hearing stories like that.

That is not my story. I didn’t know who I was or what I wanted.

It’s been a long journey for me to own my truth.

That’s why I was so thrilled with Ken Cervera invited me to be a guest on his podcast, Own Your Truth.

Own Your Truth will encourage and support you in using the very things that are challenging in life as the opening to personal growth. Every guest has so much to share and I’ve love every episode!
Here’s a link to my episode and I hope you’ll give yourself the gift of listening to Ken’s other guests. <3

Live Lavishly Light Episode #28

Are you tired? Stressed? Tired of putting off what's important to you? 

Today's Live Lavishly Light Episode is for you! Learn how the stress hormone, cortisol, is literally killing us, while the happiness and pleasure hormone, serotonin, will bring you health, productivity and creativity. 

Make pleasure a priority! I've got a new program, Pleasure Power, coming. You can find out more about it here.  

How are your circumstances shaping your life?

Are your circumstances shaping your life?

We would all answer yes to that question.

So, what's my point?

Today we're exploring the inner life vs. the outer life.

What do I mean by that?

How you think and feel is the beginning of all creation

I've come to understand this in a deep way. How I am thinking and feeling are the seeds of my circumstances.

If I don't like my circumstances. I need to change how I'm thinking and feeling.

Easier said than done!

Like a good life coach, I have my resources that help me shift and change my life. Resources that liberate me to my own wisdom. That move me forward in owning my brilliance. That's what I want for you too!

Science meets spirituality

I discovered the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza early this year. I watched a documentary he contributed to, What The Bleep Do We Know. I've never been a science person. I was raised on faith and the expectation that I would accept things, on faith, without question. I don't really like that "without question" part anymore.

I love how Dr. Joe takes the complicated topics of  quantum physics and neuroscience and makes them understandable and accessible. He has a new book that was released this week, Becoming Supernatural. How Common People are Doing the Uncommon.

What I've learned through experience

I have learned to use my imagination to create images and feeling states that are what I want to see and feel, regardless of what's happening in my "real life." Then when I meditate to deepen those images, feelings and cultivate awareness of my unconscious thoughts (that keep me limited and less than the highest expression of myself), my circumstances change.

My circumstances change dramatically. Sometimes it takes months, sometimes weeks and sometimes it happens in a day, but over and over this year I've experienced it in small and large ways. Professionally, personally and financially.

Find out more in today's video and I'd love to know if you've experienced the same thing in your life.

Knowing that our inner life is more powerful than our circumstances is how we truly Live Lavishly!

How do you get your creative juices flowing?

How do you get your creative juices flowing?

Maybe you don't feel like you have any creative juice to get flowing! I'm here to tell you, that's not true!

All of us are creative.

We all have ideas.

Every new invention, every piece of art, every object in this beautiful world began as an idea. A thought.

From thought to form.

Every time we take a thought, or idea, and make it real, turn it into form, we are creating.

When you think of it that way, you've created a lot!

Creative space.

It's a lot easier to turn those thoughts and ideas into form when we give ourselves the space to cultivate and nurture our creative juices. Sometimes we spontaneously create something. The idea comes out of nowhere, we act on it and BAM! There it is! The painting, the blog post, the book, the freshly cooked dinner.

For me, it's much more likely that I create a space for myself that encourages my creative juices. What does that mean? I set the intention for this weekend to be one of creative space. I have a new program I'll be releasing soon, I want to free up some time to do more one-on-one coaching and I have some ideas about cool stuff I want to create for the holidays (they'll be here before we know it!) What will I do this weekend to make creative space for myself? Here's how it will look

• No deadlines or activities to go to. I want to feel the freedom of open time.
• Feed myself first. I've selected a couple of specific things to nurture my heart and soul.
• Order. That may sound odd, but I want my house in order. I don't want to create in chaos, so I planned ahead and did the chores I might do on the weekend during the week.
• Nature. I love to spend time in nature when I'm in my creative space. I'll go for a walk. If I can get near water (a river, ocean, pool, any water will do) I do that, I live on the third floor and back up to a wooded area. Sometimes sitting in my lovely living room looking out at the trees and sky is just what I need.
• Movement. I might hit the gym for a while, or go for a walk, but my body needs to move. This is not second-nature to me. I have to work on this, but I do notice that moving my body gets my energy moving and that really helps my mind be more creative.
• Love. Self-love. This means no judgment. No criticism. I don't look at what I create and label it as, not good enough. Even if I re-work it or create another version of it. Whatever I create, I love and value for what it is. Loving a 'raw' version of something opens me up to seeing what it might grow into. If I judge and criticize, it shuts off my creative energy.
• Enough Already! Yes, rather than focussing on how my creation isn't good enough, big enough, brilliant enough or whatever 'not enough' thing that might cross my mind, I remind myself that I am enough already. That I have everything I need, right now. The seed of every creation, every idea, every program, every gift I might bring to the world is in me. My job is to give it the love and nurturing it needs to be born. I am enough already.

What will you create?

What are you yearning to create in your life?

Will you give yourself the time and space to create it?

This I know for sure, the world needs what you yearn to create.