Author Archives: Be a Leading Lady

Never Underestimate the Power of Taking Action

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The best way to feel better when you are feeling down is to stay productive. Take action that gets you closer to the life you want to live. -Simply Topaz

Part of the reason we tend to feel lethargic and defeated is that deep inside we know that we are not doing what it takes to move forward/toward and into the life we were created to live…the hopes and dreams that call out to you in your sleep. Your compass. When I am taking action, I begin to feel different.

It is as if I am sending a message to myself that I am moving forward and through this all the way to the other side. That mountain is mine.

Stay productive. It makes you feel so much better. Even if you have to force yourself a little because you do not feel like it, just do it.

Even on the days you do not feel like it, take steps forward. If a baby step is all that you can do, then do that. Start where you are but do not plan on staying there.

Set goals for yourself. Write them down. Write a plan of action. What are you going to do to get yourself there? Then do that. 30 day challenges are a great way to challenge yourself to push forward. Or if you are not up to 30 days, start with a 1 day challenge or 7 day challenge. Once you realize that you can do it, you will be ready to keep doing it and maybe even push yourself a little more. Here are some free 30 Day Challenge and Goal Tracking Worksheets to get you started.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much it empowers you to accomplish something that you did not think you could do. -Simply Topaz

What action can you take today that will help to propel you into the future you want?

Never Explain Yourself…

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Never explain yourself to those who simply do not matter.

-Simply Topaz

never explain yourself

Sometimes while we are in the middle of creating a beautiful life, we find ourselves in the middle of something ugly with someone. Most of the time this is someone who is more of a thorn in our side or someone for whom we have little respect or they for us, than a person seeking to be in a healthy relationship. Or maybe to some degree they even matter, but you know you are showing up to a ridiculous conversation due to the immaturity, or perhaps even craziness, of the person.

And sometimes, these people are really doing the best they know how to do. But they are stuck in healthy living patterns and are still going to bring you down if you show up.

This is not to say never explain yourself, but I am talking about those certain people who are going to believe and think what they want to believe. They are not interested in the relationship.

Do not feel the need to explain yourself to those people. It weakens who you are. And rarely do they listen anyway. Keep your power and walk away. In some situations, less is best. Life is too short to live it on someone’s terms when they do not even matter to you and only seek to steal your joy.  This is your one and only life.  Live this one glorious life on your terms and do not let others drag you into arguments where you do not need to be. Do not meet them where they are. Choose your own path.  The moment you begin to explain or defend yourself to someone who does not matter, you have appeared, in their eyes, to need their approval.

Drama can only happen if you show up. Yes, it will hurt you, but do not show up to the party, and do not let it dictate who you are.

Walk in love and wisdom, hand in hand. We do not need to show up to every party where we are invited.

Sometimes the right thing, the strong thing, the confident thing is to walk away. The person with the last word is not always the winner. Sometimes the real winner is the person who doesn’t show up to a ridiculous conversation.

Instead of spending valuable mental energy in meaningless and ugly conversations, do something positive with your time and energy. Focus forward. Give your time and resources. Help those who you can genuinely help. Create something beautiful, something important. Grow into the person you were created to be. That, my friend, is time well spent.

How are you dealing with the negative people in your life?

Jump Off the High Dive!

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Climbing a thousand high boards, we demolish fear, and turn into human beings.

~ Richard Bach

How can you transform your fears into power to propel you to a new life? Fear is energy. When we feel fear, we can also feel its power. Then we have a choice to make: Do we channel that energy to empower or disempower ourselves? The only successful way out of fear is to channel enough empowering energy to go through it. That’s how we “climb a thousand high boards.”

Going through a challenge can actually be easier than backing down. For example, have you ever tried going back down a high board because you were afraid to jump? It’s scarier than jumping off! You’re going backwards off an extremely high board onto the first step of the ladder that feels like it’s halfway to heaven. Swimmers coming up the steps are groaning and yelling at you because they have to retreat. Your hands and feet are so slippery from fear that you think you’re going to slide off the board into infinity.

You finally decide it’s less traumatic to go off the board, even if you kick the bucket in the process. So you jump. You don’t crack your head open on the edge of the board or the side pavement, as you had vividly imagined a zillion times. You don’t wipe out so badly that you have to wear a bathing cap over your face in humiliation the rest of the summer. Sure, you do a belly slap onto the water that rearranges all your vital organs. But you survive. And you can’t wait to go up again.

Today, spend some silent time contemplating one “high board” in your life. What are you most afraid of doing? Maybe it’s making a change in a relationship or situation that is unhealthy.

Delineate in writing the reasons you are fearful and what steps you might take to begin to improve that challenge. Always start with simply spending time in prayer asking for divine direction and courage to make the positive changes necessary for a new life. You don’t have to know all the answers, you just have to give it over to the One who does. You do your part and God will take care of the rest.

Is there someone you should talk with about your situation? Nothing can be healed that stays buried. Is there one phone call for help that you can make? What’s the first small step you can take right now up the ladder of your high dive to start to overcome your fear?

Determine how you can convert that same energy of fear into faith in the specific abilities God gave you to overcome the challenge. The next time you’re afraid, remember what writer Marilyn French discovered: “Our fears are a treasure house of self-knowledge if we explore them.”

When transformed into faith, they are also a treasure map to your dreams.

Transform Your Life - Take Back Your LifeWritten by Michele Poydence

~ From I Want a New Life in 30 Days  Publication: Spring 2013

Michele Poydence is an award-winning writer of television and theater, and her film, Anything’s Possible. Her humorous novel, I Want a New Life, is now available on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. She resides in Oakmont, PA.

I Want a New Life on Amazon