How many times do you say YES, when you really want to say NO? If you are like most people, you say YES to a lot of things, when you would really prefer to say No. Why is that? In this week’s episode, Leah and Jennifer talk about the different phase of the word NO.

Phase 1 – No is a complete sentence. When we were little we had no problem with the word No. In fact, we mastered the craft of being able to say no without any guilt whatsoever. Think about your children, do they feel uncomfortable saying No to you? Here’s a test….tonight ask them if they want to eat all their vegetables, you will probably get a resounding NO from them.

Phase 2 – No, but with an excuse. We usually enter this phase in our teenage years. We are still able to say No to the things we don’t want to do; however, now we add an excuse to support it. This is because we have learned to be aware of what others think. Remember the old excuse about the dog eating the homework?

Phase 3 – Yes, because we are too tired or guilty to say no. In this phase we have just grown tired of thinking up excuses, and we feel so guilty saying no, that we just start to say YES. It seems easier than figuring out a way to say No. This is the phase that most adults (especially women) find themselves in. This is where we say yes, but in our heart we want to say no.

Phase 4 – No is a complete sentence. This is the final phase where we learn that it is O.K. to say no to others and to don’t feel guilty about it. When we reach this phase of being able to say No, we are showing a great amount of respect for ourselves. We become empowered and start living proactively!

Remember, when you say NO to those things you really do not want to do, you are actually saying YES to yourself!

Listen Now

This week Jen and Leah continue talking about practicing Extreme self care and why it is so important to do so. Practicing extreme self care means taking care of YOU! In order for you to live your life fully, with passion and purpose, you need to feel good – both inside and out! Many people feel guilty if they take time out of their busy schedules to care for themselves. The first rule of thumb is to make the shift and recognize that you are worth it! Face it, when we don’t feel very good on the inside, we don’t function very well on the outside!

There are so many outside elements that can affect they way we feel. If you are stressed out all the time, and running around taking care of everyone else, what happens to your energy level? It becomes depleted. Compare this to trying to run errands all over the city and only having 1/8 of a tank of gas in the car. You are not going to be physically capable of doing it all. We need to Stop The Madness and start taking better care of our physical and emotional well being.

A couple of suggestions:

1. Spend 1 hour a day totally focusing on you. Make it YOUR time. This could be as simple as taking a walk in the morning or a bubble bath at night. Make it your private, relaxing time. Calgon – Take me away!

2. Make the decision to work with a coach to meet goals that you have that you just don’t feel you are moving forward.

3. Write in a journal or book of gratitude.

4. Learn to say NO to those things you really don’t want to do. You will be amazed at the energy and time that that will free up for you!

5. Take time to catch up with friends and family. Relationships are so very important to your selfcare and well being.

6. Take a DEEP breathe…………..hold it…………and slowly exhale.

Whatever it is that you decide to do for yourself, just realize that self care is a gift that you give yourself!

Listen Now

In this episode of the Creating Your Masterpiece Show, Leah and Jennifer introduce one of their favorite concepts – the concept of Self Care. Self care is the art of taking care of yourself! When you practice Self Care you are giving yourself (and your family) the gift of wellness. In order to truly live your life proactively – with passion and purpose – Self care must be a part of your vocabulary! You are worth it!

We must all recognize that we are our own Masterpieces! Our bodies are our temples, and should be treated as such. Self care is not to be confused with Selfish….they are two different concepts altogether! There are essentially two types of self care:

Physical Self Care – how you take care of your external body

Emotional Self Care – how you take care of your internal body

Jen and Leah have a special guest this week who is an expert on Self Care!  Tammy Bennett DOM from the Longwood Healing Center and Spa  drops by to give some excellent tips and information on how to incorporate Self Care into your  busy life. Tammy answers questions on how to get yourself and your entire family healthier!

The Longwood Healing Center and Spa is an established, very successful holistic clinic in Longwood, Florida offering a variety of proven holistic treatments including acupuncture, traditional Chinese herbal medicine, personalized weight loss, natural hormone replacement and aesthetic services. To contact Tammy Bennett DOM at the Longwood Healing Center, call 407-265-1888 or e-mail her at Tammy@LongwoodHealingCenter.com

Listen Now‘

In the final episode of Creating Your Masterpiece’s three part series on how to get unstuck and move forward in your life, Leah and Jen talk about the obstacles that can get in the way of meeting your goals. The obstacles can be both physical or emotional, and both subtle or blatantly obvious!

A way to determine what obstacles are holding you back is to take a look at the five areas of your Balanced Palette and see if anything is out of whack in each area. For example:

1. Physical Environment – Is you office cluttered and non-inspiring? Is your house your personal sanctuary? Do you surround yourself with things you love?

2. Relationships – Do you have the support of your family and friends? Are you able to spend as much time as you want with your children? Are you communicating your needs to those closet to you?

3. Money/Financial – Do you have the funds needed to move forward to meet your goals? Are you stressed out because of your finances? Do you know what state your finances are in?

4. Health/Emotion – Are you taking care of yourself? Eating properly and getting enough sleep? Do you have a regular exercise regime?

5. Spiritual – Do you have enough quiet time in your day? Are you reading things that inspire and motivate you? Do you have a positive attitude?

If you are experiencing any obstacles in these five areas, it is common to feel overwhelmed and unfocused. So, the first step in overcoming the obstacle is to identify what it is and then develop a plan of action! In Coaching we call this technique ‘Bridging the Gap’. First you identify where you currently are and what obstacles you are facing.  Second, you picture where you want to be, what the outcome is that you desire. Finally, you ‘bridge the gap’ by coming up with the action steps needed to get there! This is the key to getting unstuck and moving forward!

Listen Now

On this week’s show Jen and Leah tackle the second reason that people tend to get stuck – both personally and professionally – and that reason is having unclear goals. Goals are your plans. Do you know what your goals are? Are you specific with them? For example, a goal could be – I want to be a better parent.

Some suggestions for helping you visualize your goals are:

1. Create a family vision board

2. Keep a Journal

3. Work with a life coach on setting and attaining your goals

Listen Now