Miss Modish- Mojo Maker

How to Get in the Mindset for Gettin' Out There!

After being self-employed for 5+ years and writing this blog for even longer, I am starting to realize more and more that success in business really boils down to one thing: your mindset.

Your products, photos, copy and marketing plan don't give a lick if your head isn't in the right space to believe in yourself and what you're putting out there.

I think most often the hurdles we face along our journeys into growing our business can be remedied simply by thinking of them differently.

So if you're feeling stuck either in doubt or in the details about getting yourself out there...
Or find that you just "don't have time" to really market yourself...
Or if you've tried and things didn't work and now you're over it...

I've been held back by all of those things before too, in the past, so I thought I'd share 3 ways I've been able to shift my own mindset to clear those obstacles, and make it a whole lot easier to get out there!

My #1 secret to getting press

I decided to record part of the introduction to my new PITCH-KIT for you guys not only so you can get a sense of what it's like, but because right in the intro, I share my #1 secret to getting press mentions- it's really what it allll boils down to.

You'll also get to hear details about what's included in the pitch-kit so you can be the judge if it's something that might be useful for you, before you fork over any dough :)

Give it a listen to get some mojo for gettin' out there!

The new PITCH-KIT is heeere....

I've spent the past couple days with my nose to the grindstone accomplishing the billion tiny steps that it takes to finish an e-book- and now it's finally heeeere!

YIPPEE!!

I'm beyond thrilled with how it turned out because not only did I pack it full of extra helpful info on how to do your own PR, it's been totally re-branded and re-prettied and is a super fun (and colorful!) read.

Are you ready to get over that self-doubt that's holding you back from really getting yourself out there?

Stop waiting to be discovered, and get out there and start telling the media about your hot shit, cool jams, and supa bad self!

This new and improved PITCH-KIT shares everything you need to know to start reaching out to the media, to BE THE GEM in an editor's inbox, and DO YOUR OWN PR with CONFIDENCE and SUCCESS!

Check it out and snag yourself a copy over in the MOJO SHOP.

And now, I rest. phew!

See yourself as the success you ALREADY are

I can get caught up in the "what's next?" syndrome, staying so focused on the future and what's up ahead that right now starts to feel not quite good enough.

Like I have to just achieve this one thing and then I'll be totally satisfied.

But of course, the satisfaction never really comes from the achievements themselves because once we have "the thing"- whatever our goal may be- the sense of happiness and accomplishment is often cut short as a new goal quickly falls into its place.

This is much of the reason why I'm choosing to, I guess, "lay low" on the whole "goals" thing this year. I do have goals, of course, but I no longer want to focus so much on how exactly I'm going to reach them.

When I look at my goals from that long-distance perspective, the journey feels so long and arduous from here, and it makes me start to second guess myself, start to lose motivation and get all sorts of procrastinatey.

When our sense of fulfillment becomes wrapped up in attainment, then the "if I just do that thing, am in that place, act this way, have this happen, then, I'll be happy" treadmill becomes miles and miles long, and we never feel quite happy with where we're presently at.

One way to hop off that treadmill of conditional happiness is to celebrate your accomplishments!

This year my motto is... Feel. Be. Act.

      {photo by my mister, @drsmoothdeath}

Happy new year! I've been taking these past few days of 2013 to figure out what I really want for my life in the year ahead... 

And I've decided, I'm making no resolutions. I'm setting no goals.

I'm focusing less on the things I want for my life, and more on how I want to FEEL.

I'm focusing less on what I want to do up ahead, and more on who I want to BE.

I'm tired of hoping for someday, and am ready to ACT on today.

I think when we become so worried about which path to take and if it's the right one, how long it's going to be and "when are we going to get to the end already?", that we forget to look up at the trees, and the light shining down through them- we forget about the happiness that we have access to, here and now.

Mo' Mojo Podcast: How to Pitch Last-Minute for the Holidays

It's not too late to pitch your shop to blogs to gain some ever-impactful holiday season exposure for your business!

Since I spend so much time helping individual clients out with pitching thier online shops to blogs to get exposure, I wanted to extend the same hand to help all of you with some advice on how to make the most of these last couple weeks left in the shopping season.

I have been wanting to deliver some helpful nuggets here via video for quite awhile now, but I'm still finding my groove with that and have been finding audio recording really quick and easy for me right now... So, I decided to record a special little "MO' MOJO" podcast for you!

Taking a moment of thankfulness

So you may know that I love to meditate to help clear my mind and get present. And I can vouch that it really does make you feel happier overall the more regularly you do it.

I am getting back into a regular practice myself, and so when Mayi from Heartmade asked me to say a little something about gratitude for her Life is Messy Bootcamp members, I thought about what would be most helpful from me to really get people into that state of thankfulness?

And so I put two of my loves together and recorded a guided meditation on gratitude! I wanted to share it here with you too:

Meditation on gratitude by Miss Modish

It will lead you through some breathing and ask questions to get you thinking about all that you have, right here and now, within you and around you, to be truly grateful for.

Plus, I recorded some birdies in my backyard and around the hood that you'll hear in the background :)

So before you rush off on Thanksgiving travel plans, or if you need to step out of the thick of stressful holiday seasonness for a moment, I encourage you to take these 10 minutes for yourself to give it a listen. A little bit of thankfulness each day can shift your whole perspective of your life and the world around you!

I plan on creating more guided meditations like this around a variety of topics to have as a free resource for getting mo' mojo into your life! So let me know what you think, and if you'd like to hear more stuff like this!

And I can't leave without saying a big thank you to you all!! For sticking around and supporting me through the many changes on the blog over the past year. Your comments and emails and smiles and thank yous are really what keep me charged and plugging along. I appreciate each and every one of you reading this right now!

Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers and lots of happy gratitude to all of you! See you here next week!

<3 jena

Getting back on the habit wagon

It seems like with every healthy habit, there comes a period of time when we're doing really good with it! Look at us go! And then something in our life situation changes- we get busier, we have to deal with something- there's a shift of some sort. And then suddenly, poof! Our new habit vanishes along with it.

That doesn't just happen to me, does it?

One healthy habit I have found myself falling from is meditation.

I was doing really great at it, meditating almost everyday for over a year. When I was feeling at my most overwhelmed and burdened, meditation is what I turned to help draw me out of that. And guess what? It worked!

It worked so well that the triggers that led me to feeling like I needed meditation in my life, the things that led me to keep up the habit everyday, the stress, sadness and overwhelm- well, they all went away!

The better I started to feel, the less I felt like I needed to meditate, because I already felt calm and happy and present.

And somewhere along the line, I stopped meditating at all. Without even really noticing that it was a habit I had given up- it was completely unconscious.

And now that I realize it's been a couple months since I was meditating regularly, I'm also noticing that I'm getting more easily frustrated, self-doubt is creeping in a lot more, I'm falling back into stressful patterns that I had before and I see- it's because I stopped!

So I now realize, that meditation is a life-long habit I want to cultivate and that just because it seems to be working at the time, doesn't mean I get to stop! That's the exact time when I need to keep going and keep at it.

So, I'm hopping back on the habit wagon! Here's how:

First things first: I'm going to start today. Now is a better time than any to jump back on that wagon. No use wasting time thinking about myself as a failure or wondering why I can't stick to things- I'm just gonna take action and get re-started. TODAY.

2nd step: I need to re-connect with my WHY. My first motivation was very apparent- I felt like crap, stressed out, depressed, and meditation made me feel instantly better.

Now that I'm not in such an overwhelmed state, I need to find a new motivation to keep on going. I know that I want to keep building up that place of presence and calm within me so that it's there when I need it- even if things aren't immediately stressful, I need to feel like I can handle the hard stuff when it comes up, and meditating regularly gives me the strength and clarity to do that. That's a pretty motivating why!

3rd step: I'm going to bring in some community. I have always meditated alone, which makes it really easy to stop if I want. I plan on continuing the solo practice, but also want to reach out to some community activities- guided meditations and groups around town (it's Portland so there's lots of stuff like that :)

To have a chance to talk to and get to know others who are interested in this could really help my motivation, I think. Having some sort of social support around your habit can help you feel more accountable and stick to it!

So those are my steps for hopping back on the habit wagon! I'm going to meditate right after this, and get started!

Is there a healthy habit you've let lax recently? How are you going to hop back on the wagon and get groovin' on it again?

{This is part of our Truthy Tuesday series over at The Maven Circle, where we openly share our struggles and thoughts around a different topic each week. Join us in getting truthy on your own blog, and we'll link up and spread the love!}

Truthy Tuesday: Seeing Ourselves Differently

Is it ever really possible to see yourself as others see you?

Is it possible to think of ourselves without expressing judgement of some-sort?

It might be possible, but it's not something easy to achieve, to distance ourselves from the focus on flaws when our eyes met our own in the mirror.

I've gone thru many changing ideas of my own self image throughout the years. Although I still have a long way to go to see myself as the me I know I am, deep down inside, I'm at least catching glimpses of it more often, recognizing her in little bits and pieces.

I'm starting to see the good stuff and believe in myself more, little by little. And through that alone, I've seen the shift that a change in perspective on my own self can have on my whole experience of the world.

For my whole life, only up until quite recently, I've seen myself as too shy for a lot of the things I wanted to do, too scared to speak up or really share my differences. I've seen myself in this way for so long that it felt like it must be the truth. But lately I've been noticing my actions prove otherwise.

Suddenly I find myself doing all these not so shy things. I'm finding my words and speaking up more for myself. I feel more open then I have in years. I'm doing things on a daily basis that used to freak me out. I'm not that shy, scared little girl anymore, and I'm still wrapping my head around seeing myself as something stronger and braver than who I've identified as for so long.

For most of my childhood life, I didn't consider myself artistic or creative, because I had an incredibly talented best friend who could draw and was so naturally free in so many ways. I thought "I'm not artistic, cause I'm not like her! :(" I didn't consider all my talents and hobbies artistic at all, even though looking back now I can see I was an incredibly creative kid. It really took me getting into photography and writing more in college, and then ending up working for myself being creative every single day, just to prove to myself that I am artistic, I am creative, and I do have good ideas.

I used to hate my curls so much I got my hair chemically relaxed and would blow dry it out stick straight in high school and into early college. That is until the chemicals burned the right side of my hair off! Once it grew back though, I was back on the relaxer again. Not until I moved to Portland did I stop destroying my hair!

I was petrified of being seen as "other", as "different". Although I thrive on being recognized as an individual, when I was younger I also felt so compelled to be accepted and fit-in. Still now, I do let my curls go crazy, but I tend to pull my hair back- reign in the lioness quality of it, because sometimes it feels almost too fierce. Too "look at me!". Too confident. And I'm still getting used to seeing myself as someone like that.

I could go on and on about all the things I used to/still do consider flaws, but I won't- because, I've learned that that's really the whole battle right there -- learning how to talk to ourselves differently.

Learning to let go of our own flaws and foibles, and just accept that they're part of who we are, as we do for other people we care about. Learning to approach ourselves with less judgement, so that we can also practice less judgement against others.

And I think that's where the fear lies really- the fear to be our real, raw, full selves - it's a fear of being judged. And it's so ingrained in us because we ourselves are judgemental. And like Jen said in her post last week, the best place to start practicing less judgement is to ourselves.

I think to start shifting our self image is simple really:

1. Be kind to yourself. Notice when you're judging yourself and change the sentence to something more positive.

2. Stop comparing yourself to others. Comparison is judgement. Put it on the back-burner and just say fuck 'em!

3. Start believing the good stuff. You know, all those nice and wonderful things people say that you slough off and push away? The things you notice in yourself that surprise you. The good feedback, kind words, compliments. Believe them. Let yourself take them in.

4. Push yourself out of your comfort zone. The further you go beyond it, the more your self image can start to grow beyond the limitations you've placed on yourself, simply by how you see yourself.

I'm practicing all 4, all the time, but it's a work in progress.

What about you- how do you see yourself differently now, then in the past? Where else would you like to shift your self image toward the positive?

{This is part of our Truthy Tuesday series over at The Maven Circle, where we openly share our struggles and thoughts around a different topic each week. Join us in getting truthy on your own blog, and we'll link up and spread the love!}

How I wear many hats without getting overwhelmed

Whether you want to be or not, just trying to navigate in today's modern world, you're likely someone who wears a lot of different hats.

Being an indie business owner, like I and so many of you are, is a hat-fest in itself. We're not only the creators, but also the photographers, marketers, tech dept.... manager, employee and assistant... head of branding, bookkeeping and customer service... chief blogger and entire social media dept.

And our days don't even end there- we still want to also be a good wife/partner/mom/friend and keep our house clean(ish) too.

That's a crap-ton of hats we wear, ya'll!

So how do we do all that while keeping at least a semblance of our shit together and not becoming a stress fest? Here's what helps me:

I remember to take care of myself.

If alllla that is relying on little ol' me to take care of it? I best try to keep my energy, health and spirit up to the task. I talk regularly here (and over on the Maven Circle) about the importance of self-care routines. Honestly, I've been falling off the wagon a bit and need to get back to adding more self-care into my life, too.

When I have those "all these hats are just too much!" stressed out days, I realize it's because I'm lacking some basic need- usually sleep, stretching or getting space can cure any bit of stress that comes up for me. But, it's been coming up a little more often lately which is a signal to me that I need to be doing more for myself, still.

More meditation and even more exercise are both getting added to my schedule because I know they help me stay flexible and calm when the stress from juggling all those hats can start to catch up.

I try to wear only one hat at a time.

With all this effort for so many years to make us humans good multi-taskers, it's no wonder we feel so frazzled, directionless and like we never really get anything done.

Wearing all of those hats all at one time is possible, yes- but it's going to be a struggle. You constantly have to shift your balance and re-arrange the hats, having to worry about all of them all at once just to make sure they don't all topple over. It can become a very overwhelming and dis-empowering feeling.

Think of instead keeping a cute proverbial bag with you to store all those different hats and keep them within reach when you need, but you only wear one at a time. Focus on that hat- show it off!

I've found I'm much better at writing when I take pen to page, away from the computer (and internet distractions) and just write. I actually accomplish what I set out to on my to-do list most days because I (make it realistic for one, and) focus on one thing at a time.

You only have one head- stick with one hat at a time!

I release the guilt

With many hats comes the guilt of not being able to wear them all well all at once. I have gotten to those points where I feel like I'm doing a bad job at everything and disappointing people, including myself, and the guilt becomes unbearable and then I get stuck! And it gets worse!

Guilt is not going to do any good for you- learning, growing and doing better the next time though, will.

To release that guilt, I try to give myself credit for all that I AM doing well and right and awesomely, for all the things that are working and seem to come easily. And in doing that, life no longer feels like a place that sticks me, but rather a place that motivates me to bring more of that good stuff into it.

I give some hats up

This is a tough one for me, maybe because I'm an only child who has sharing issues, maybe because I'm simply a control freak, but giving up some of my many life or business hats is a scary idea!

But here's the thing- even if we ditch trying to balance all those hats on our head, and carry them around in our bags with us instead- those bags are gonna start to get heavy! And I'm ready to lighten my load.

I think it's time I give up the bookkeeper hat cause it's one I've always met with dread- I finally see that it is worth the money to pay a professional to take stuff off your plate, if that frees up hours of time you could be using for hats you actually like to wear!

I also re-structured my business to get rid of some of those hats that weren't fitting any longer- "ad-manager" and "submission fielder" were a couple I got rid of to have more time to wear my favorite "writer" hat! I also share a lot of hats now with Jen at MC, and having a partner to share in those responsibilities really lightens the load and feels good!

Which hats can you give away, share or keep up on a closet shelf for awhile? Which hats are your favorites and are you wearing those ones often enough? I'd love to hear!

{This is part of our Truthy Tuesday series over at The Maven Circle, where we openly share our struggles and thoughts around a different topic each week. Join us in getting truthy on your own blog, and we'll link up and spread the love!}

Truthy Tuesday: Which is really the bigger risk?

When asked, "What's the biggest risk you've ever taken?" I usually think back to quitting my stable office job for a company I really loved, surrounded by people I actually adored working with, in order to work from home, for myself, and figure it all out alone.

When you say it like that, it does sound risky! But it was a risk that I planned and prepared for. And as scary as the thought of leaving stability was, to me, the real risk was staying in that cubicle for one day too long and having it suddenly turn into 8 years. The real risk was to let myself be creatively unfulfilled for too long. Or personally unfulfilled, knowing that I was bound for something greater and more impactful then where that job could have led me.

As great and stable and excellent benefits providing as that job was, it just wasn't where I was meant to be, and I knew it.

So I decided to leave and hatched an escape plan. In telling my plans to others (bad idea) a lot of my co-workers were a) probably jealous but b) couldn't get over just how risky it sounded. A lot of people thought I was nuts and a dreamer to give up health insurance and a 401k for the total unknown.

But to me, it felt more crazy not to try. I began to feel it was actually riskier for me to stay put. And that's when I knew that leaving was a big scary risk worth the taking.

I made the leap, and haven't looked back since.

We take risks everyday of our lives, whether or not we realize or acknowledge it.

Driving is a risk. The things we ingest, breathe in, are surrounded by on a daily basis can be a risk to our health. Opening up to someone, really loving someone is risky. Raising your hand, speaking up, forming an opinion, standing up for your beliefs- all inherent with risk.

Yet we do them anyway, because somewhere along the line we tried them out and decided that eventho bad things could happen, those are risks worth taking.

The problem is- you never really know if it's going to be worth it unless you try.

We're often so worried about protecting ourselves and those close to us. We don't want to get hurt, feel scared, fall down, screw up, embarrass ourselves, prove the naysayers right.

So, we opt to play it safe, wait for the "right time" to come, keep delaying and pushing away these risky dreams because they seem too big and we're not quite ready to face them yet.

But by not acting, not going for it, not scaring yourself by pursuing things that thrill you and light that spark up within you- that's the biggest risk of all, really.

That is risking your passion, instinct and trust in your own guiding voice.

That's risking never finding what you were truly meant to do in this world, never finding that path that makes you feel alive, whole and happy in a deeper way.

That's risking your todays for a tomorrow that might not come.

So either option is risky, really. You just have to ask yourself, which one is really the BIGGER risk? And which do you think is a risk worth taking?

{This is part of our Truthy Tuesday series over at The Maven Circle, where we openly share our struggles and thoughts around a different topic each week. Join us in getting truthy on your own blog, and we'll link up and spread the love!}

3 Ways Growing a Garden Can Help you Grow your Business (no green thumb needed)

We interrupt this regularly scheduled kitty photo friday for a lesson from my garden.

I was out watering it, in a totally peaced out, meditative mood, and got to thinking about how taking care of this garden, nurturing these flowers, it's really a lot like growing a business.

Unlikely inspiration for a business related post, but often that's where the best inspiration comes from, right? Where you least expect it.

So here are 3 Ways Growing a Garden Can Help you Grow your Business (even if you don't have a green thumb!)

Remember, individual plants have individual needs
So you know the basic formula for keeping a plant alive- soil + water + sunshine = growth.

If you use that same general formula for all the plants in your garden, some will grow great, some will die, some will get taken down by aphids, but for the most part, you could keep the garden alive.

But it's when you start to really get personal and figure out the individual needs of each plant- which ones like more shade, need less water, prefer more acidic soil... When you start to really tweak that formula to each plant's unique desires, making them feel catered to and cared for, that's when they'll not only grow, but thrive, and your entire garden will flourish!

So in business, the basic formula is website + somethin' good to sell + marketing = growth. You can use that formula to do okay, sell some stuff, get a few clients- you'll be able to keep your business "alive."

But it's when you start to really focus on who you're talking to, who your ideal customer is- when you start to cater to their needs & desires and make them feel cared for, individualized- that's when your business will not just stay alive, but begin to flourish!

You gotta prune
My flowers go crazy with new growth after I prune off the old dead buds, the brown leaves, the half slug-eaten bits. It's almost like I can see them grow overnight after a good pruning.

Cutting off the dead, old, rotten parts allows them to send all their energy into the green, budding, thriving parts. Pruning is essential to growth.

The same goes for your business- you gotta prune!

You gotta cut out what's not working to make room for what is.

You gotta trim off the self-doubt, fear of failure, fear of trying in order to grow your self assurance.

You have to quit doing the stuff you hate or resent, to clear room for the stuff that engages you and fires you up.

You gotta prune the hard to please customers, too demanding constraints and people who suck your energy so that you can re-claim it for yourself.

Prune regularly to get down to your greenest, thriving center of what matters most to you, and your energy, passion and business will grow together.

Patience, my friend

Growing a flower garden is a waiting game. From seed to sprout to plant to blooming time takes months and months.

And when that plant first starts to grow, it feels so exciting and big! And the good news is, with lots of care and attention, some fertilizer every now and then, it'll come back next year bigger and stronger. And the next year, it will have grown even more.

There will be bugs and heat and rain and dogs trampling across them over time, but you'll figure out how to deal with those things as they come. And the more care and love you give that plant, the more you work to understand its needs, the deeper and stronger its roots will become and you'll find it becomes easier and easier to care for as time goes on.

And at some point, you won't even remember the little seed it started out as, or how many years it took to grow this large. By then, all that will matter is that the seed was planted at all. And how well you've taken care of it. And you'll be amazed at how it's grown into something bigger than you ever thought possible!

We don't expect a flower to grow any faster then it grows, really. We can speed it along with some guano loaded compost, and talk real sweet to it, but we still understand that it's going to take as long as it takes to grow, and that's ok.

Yet in our businesses, so often we feel rushed to get to the finish line. We want our business to be all grown-up already, yesterday. And we can start to feel inadequate, or like giving up, because it just seems to be taking so damn long to get there!

But if you want your biz to start with a strong base and grow organically, time is an essential element- it's part of the magic formula for success.

The less you worry about growing as fast as possible or about how big it's gonna get, and the more you focus on just taking care of your business day by day, the more you'll enjoy, and be able to recognize, the slow growth along the way.

It's really not about where you're going to get to in your business in the long run, it's about what you can do to care for your business today.

Focus on strengthening and nurturing the roots, and the growth part will take care of itself- it's nature's way.

And just like gardening, the best way to learn in business is to put a seed in the soil and see what happens. Experience is the best teacher, so get out there and get some dirt under your fingernails!

<3 Miss Modish

Which of these lessons from the garden can you apply to your business right now? Do you need to get more personal? Prune more? Have more patience? I'd love for you to share in the comments below!

Truthy Tuesday: Why I Decided to Do-Over my Blog & Business

We all have had to do a do-over at some point in our life. Maybe it was an unwelcome one through a break-up, losing your job, feeling like you failed at something. And there are small do-overs we do everyday too- getting back up, trying again, communicating in a different way.

So it's natural for us to want a do-over at times in our lives, but less easy to actually make one happen.

I think we can get scared. If we focus on all the time we already put into the project, relationship, job, whatever, that idea of not wanting all that time to "go to waste" can keep us stuck in a situation we know is not really what we want deep down inside.

That happened to me in what was probably my most recent big do-over- changing the direction of my blog. In just changing what I write about, I changed what I'm known for and I feel like I traded in years of hard work & community building to now have to basically start from scratch in building my audience, clarifying my voice, trying to connect with my ideal people out there.

I feel like a newbie again in so many ways, and sometimes wonder if I should have stopped what was already working well just to jump again into the wide unknown.

But then I remember, what was working before business wise, wasn't working for me. I had felt unsettled, unsure, unfulfilled with what I was doing underneath it all. I had become so sick of talking about STUFF and all these material things- as lovely as all those things are and the people who make them- the stuff is not what's important to me in my life, and I felt like I could help the people in a more real and lasting way than just a little airtime on the blog for a day.

I began to feel like a bit of a sham, like the blog was a facade that was too hard to keep up with. And I felt like I had to continue this popular blog just because it was popular, but started to care less and less about what I was writing about.

I checked out and found myself resentfully going thru the motions and that's when I realized two things-

I need to start over. And, I can start over.

All that hard work and years of time I put into something I wasn't loving anymore weren't worth holding onto just to say- but look how many years I've been at this! if it wasn't making me happy any longer.

So I decided to do a do-over. To shift my biz model. To shift my blog's direction and subject matter. To shift into something that felt right for me now, rather than still trying to fit into what was right for me then.

The me that started my blog isn't quite the same me today. And as we grow, evolve and become more in tune with who we are and what we want, we may find where we are currently isn't exactly where we want to be.

So we yearn to make a change, but it feels too scary to imagine starting from scratch, all over again, especially in adult life. But to me, it's even scarier to imagine staying stuck in a job, relationship, place or even state of mind that you don't want to be in.

And once you get over that hump of fear you'll see on the other side of a do-over there lies a sense of freedom, possibility, direction. On the other side is the chance to create the kind of happiness you know you can have.

And if not, if it's a big failure- good news, you can just do it over again!

Is your intuition telling you to do a do-over somewhere in your life? Is fear holding you back? What do-overs have you rocked already?

Share your do-over experiences or yearnings in the comments, or over with us at The Maven Circle!

{This is part of our Truthy Tuesday series over at The Maven Circle, where we openly share our struggles and thoughts around a different topic each week. Join us in getting truthy on your own blog, and we'll link up and spread the love!}

Truthy Tuesday: Having "one of those" days?

{This is part of our Truthy Tuesday series over at The Maven Circle, where we openly share our struggles and thoughts around a different topic each week. Join us in getting truthy on your own blog, and we'll link up and spread the love!}

Bad day... it's not me...

That's a Radiohead lyric that kept popping up in my head every time I thought about what I wanted to say about having a bad day. And maybe the answer's right in there. Your bad day, your mood, the feeling like fates are conspiring against you and nothing's going your way? That's not you.

There are a lot of external circumstances sweeping us up, diverting our attention and taking our energy away. And when we start focusing on the annoyance and frustration and everything that's not going our way, then the day's going to feel like it sucks, for sure.

I started noticing that my self-care plays a huge proactive role in creating less days where I wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Turns out when you're well slept, getting some good nutrition and making time to center yourself, a lot of those minor annoyances and frustrations that can quickly pile up to a ruined day, slide right off your back instead- go figure!

We have a greater capacity to let go when we feel filled up, taken care of- from that vantage point, we can see what really matters and what doesn't.

But when we're in that depleted space- that haven't slept well, too much to do, no time for me, 3 cups of coffee before noon space- we like to grab on and hold tight to those minor daily frustrations, to all the stuff that's not working out, because it's all we can see in front of us from that state of mind.

We end up putting our energy into whining and groaning and wishing things were different, and that's when the day starts to feel like a bad one.

When I used to get in those funks, I'd try to shove it down, ignore it and just get thru the day ending up crabbier and crabbier by the end of it (lucky are those who didn't cross my path on days like that.)

Now, when I'm feeling funkified, I:

Acknowledge it- out loud. I say "I'm having a crappy day!" or "I'm really feeling stressed out!" and just saying those things out loud triggers something in me immediately that responds- "Ok so, let's change that."

Instead of letting myself just fester in a bad mood like I used to, now I try to detach from whatever's causing my mental drama- whether it's a person, the computer (ugh!), a project I'm working on- I get away from the trigger point and give some space to that feeling of ughness, to figure out why it's there.

Then I give myself something I want: decompression in front of the boobtube, a long afternoon shower, a new flower to plant, new album off itunes, painting my nails, a scoop of ice cream, kitty cuddles- I give myself some instantaneous satisfaction.

Then I give myself something I need: a nap, a walk, a big glass of water, vitamins, stretching, meditation, a smoothie, a dance break- I take a moment and put my energy back into me for a bit.

Usually that's enough to refuel and look on the brighter side of things for the rest of the day. But even if it ends up being the absolute highlight of my day, at least it had a highlight!

Just as much as all the little bad things can tend to bring us down, the little good things in life can boost you right back up again.

So when the day's taking a turn for the worse, I try to remember that the day is what I make of it. And I choose to have a good day, today.

What do you do when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, or find that your good day is taking a turn for the worse? We all have bad days- let's help each other get through them!

Creating Change- Finding time to make the life you want

As you know, I've gone through a transition here on the blog, a transition in my business (well, that happens a lot :) and I've been making a lot of changes in my life during it all. It's been the year of change, for sure! And I'm so grateful for it all, even though a lot of bits have sucked, and continue to be hard in some ways, I feel like it's all been so well worth it.

Even from this tenuous growing spot I'm in at the moment, I can see fulfillment at the end of the road in a way I haven't experienced before- and that's because I feel fulfilled NOW. I haven't gotten where ever it is I'm going yet, but it doesn't matter because right now I feel happy, headed in the right direction, I feel taken care of and confident that I can handle whatever twists & turns life will throw my way.

And it's all because of the inner changes I've been making that are totally rooted in self-care. And I mean self-care in it's truest sense, care for yourself- treating yourself with love.

I think too many of us struggle with that- we harp on ourselves, hamper ourselves, talk ourselves out of the things we really want for our lives because they seem too scary.

Well, I got sick of it. I got sick of being my own worst asshole. I got sick of not doing the things I dreamed of out of fear. Sick of not taking care of myself and ending up overwhelmed & rundown way too often. Sick of having a really awesome life that I wasn't enjoying much at all, cause I was too busy being busy!

Enough was enough, so I decided to change. I decided to commit to taking better care of myself and to treat myself with as much love as possible. I realized that not only does it matter, it may matter most of all, because if we're not even taking care of our own basic needs, how can we possibly bring our best selves to the table?

It's like we're operating at half-tank all the time and that's why we become so easily depleted, especially when stressful situations arise.

I feel like I've finally traded in my stress, anxiety and constant overwhelm for peace of mind and a sense of wholeness. Pretty good deal, if you ask me.

And part of that new sense of fulfillment has come from you guys, actually. From feeling like I'm actually helping people in ways that are meaningful.

A big part of that is the work we're doing over at The Maven Circle, especially with the Catalyst Course we put together. That's where we share everything we've learned over the years of not only why self-care is so important, but how to fit it into your busy life!

Believe me, I'm no less busy now than I've ever been, but I've been able to fit in more self-care by shifting my life to better match my priorities. I would say that health, family and pursing my passion were my priorities out loud, but the way I was spending my time didn't align with that- and actions speak louder than words, so I decided to act.

Which is another thing I realize now. You have to MAKE TIME for what's most important to you, your own self care included. You have to create shifts, get out of the same way of thinking that's been keeping you stuck, get a vantage point from a new perspective- and that's where change will happen.

And that's exactly what our Catalyst Course focuses on- helping you make time for what matters most. And hey, for starter practice? Make time for this course! It's our hearts, brains & experience on a plate, plus the actual exercises and everyday practices & tools we use to keep stress at a minimum, and awesome on the up and up.

Fulfillment for both me & Jen comes from knowing that we've helped someone see a situation, or themselves, differently and helped them create action toward the change they want to see in their life. We'd love the opportunity to help you, too. Our course starts this Monday, Aug 13th and we'd be over the moon to have you join us!

Make the time for what matters most to you. Make the time to create change!

Truthy Tuesday: Is Finding Balance Really Possible?

Photo by me, and a peek at Take a summer stroll with me part 2, which will be up tomorrow! Beautiful words by Rumi, one of my favorites, always, for a dose of perspective.

Find me getting Truthy today over on The Maven Circle blog about work/life balance, and whether such a thing exists! (hint: no, I don't think it does!)

Truthy Tuesday: Self care thru quick daily "restarts"

{We do this weekly feature over on The Maven Circle called "Truthy Tuesday", where we share our real experiences around different topics each week. We'd love to have people post their experiences around those topics on their own blogs too, to encourage more truthiness around blogland and openly talk about some of these things!

This week I'm doing my Truthy Tuesday post here on my own blog, in hopes you'll do one on your blog too! We'll link back to it from the MC blog so that we can all check eachother's posts out.}

We're talking about "self care" this week, as in how do we take care of our own health and wellness? It doesn't involve getting mani/pedis and sitting around eating ice cream all day, although that sounds like a totally awesome and worthwhile way to spend a day here and there :)

It's more about, how do we give back to ourselves? Keep our personal wells full so that we can be our most awesome selves?

I'm feeling in need of some serious self care right now after an exciting, inspiring, but honesty exhausting weekend spent at WDS.

I normally take weekends OFF from work stuff. As in, I don't open up my laptop on a Saturday. I rarely check my email on the weekend and don't reply to any until Monday, unless it's a really rare something that can't wait. I might do some work on a Sunday evening if I absolutely have to, but it's only the most relaxing, fun kind of work that I can do with HBO on in the background- nothing too thinky.

I do all this in an effort to give myself a break, a relief from analyzing and organizing in my brain all day, a chance to really feel removed from work thoughts and present in what's right in front of me.

So having no brain time off at all this weekend made it really hard to jump back into this work week with much gusto. My brain feels like a computer with too many windows open that hasn't been shut-down for far too long and the RAM is all clogged up. My spinny rainbow pinwheel thingy is spinning for a long-ass time between each click of the mouse, and the only way to fix me at this point is to shut down, and reboot.

But the weekend isn't comin for a many more days, so I'm going to have to incorporate little "restarts" throughout each day to keep me chugging along.

Here are some of the ways I make quick "restarts" to come back to present and take care of my own mental & physical wellness throughout a busy day:

• fetch break with bobohead out in the yard everyday
• walks around the neighborhood with my camera in hand
• a 20 min break out in the garden to weed & prune (yes I like those things), cut flowers or just gaze
• a mid-day shower to clear my head, brainstorm and re-energize
  
• meditating- a quick guided meditation recenters me in less then 10 minutes
• if one of my cats is lookin' cute, best be sure I'll break to take some pictures
• exercise isn't half bad if you find something you really like- I do kundalini yoga videos at home 2x a week & group training work-outs outside at the park 2x a week (which are super awesome!)
• meeting friends for breakfast or a happy hour cocktail- sometimes an hour convo with a good friend is all the therapy you need
  
• take my brain-on pills and a multi-vitamin every day
• drink many large glasses of water each day, starting first thing in the morning which helps me keep it up all day- taking vitamins helps increase the water intake too!
  
• have breakfast every morn, even if it's small- helps keep my metabolism up & helps me eat throughout the day (instead of starving myself til dinner cause I was "too busy" working to eat, like I used to)
• make a mean green smoothie which takes 5 min and is always an energy booster
• listen to music really loud and dance around like the dork-fantastic
  
• do self-hypnosis downloads to relax and stay motivated- 15-20 minutes to help stop procrastinating? I'll take it!
• take 20 min to watch a video, read a couple articles or a book chapter on something I want to learn about, to help my biz or myself
  
• and my favorite easy breathing technique which can help me refocus and destress in a minute or less

That's most of what's in my self care bag, and I'll reach in and pull out what I need, when I need it, throughout the day.

Sometimes I need to take many tiny self care breaks during the day to keep my energy and enthusiasm up, sometimes I only need a few... but it's all about listening to what your body and mind needs in the moment, and giving yourself that, so you have even more to give to your work, your people and the world around you!

I hope this list can give you some ideas of how easy it can be to add in self care to your day 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there. What are some ways you take care of yourself throughout the day? Or do you forget to add yourself to your own "to-do" list? 

Share in the comments below, or on your own blog & leave me a link- we'd love to hear your stories & tips too- love talking about this stuff! 

Quick & simple stress reliever I use everyday

Dang, video editing takes a looong time! But man, it feels like a world of relief when you're finally done. Woowee!

So, I'm a couple days late (and interrupting kitty photo Friday, I know- back next week ;) but finally here with my first Dose of Mojo, on video!

It was a big leap out of my comfort zone doing this- and took a few failed attempts to even work my nerve up- but it's something I've really been wanting to do for a long time. I'm excited to get the first one done and out there and get the momentum going- ya know? Yay for momentum!

For my first video, I decided to share a super simple stress-reliever that I use everyday to cool my jets, calm my nerves, get focused and relax. It's an easy breathing-technique that works wonders in just about a minute and is something you can do anywhere, anytime.

Ready to get your de-stressin' on? Hit it!

I really hope this helps when you feel that inner tension start to bubble up! When I remember to use it, it always makes me feel relieved and helps calm my reactions- another bonus! 

Let me know what you think in the comments below! Did you try it? Feel the calm? Think you'll stick it in your pocket to pull out when you need it? Is there a quick stress-releiver that works wonders for you? (another one of mine is dancing around like a fool!)

<3 jena

Why vulnerability is good for business

I've had a hard time figuring out what to say now after my last post, unleashing some (not all mind you!) of the things I might not normally be keen to share to a world full of people with opinions.

I think it's also especially scary to put that stuff out there to potential clients, as I want to be seen as the person who has the answers, not the person who has the problems- right?

But the reality is, we all have problems, struggles, and secrets we'd rather not share with the world at large...

And in sharing some of those with you last week, and reading all of your AMAZING responses that really touched me (and in some cases made me tear up!) And reading all the other AMAZING honest and open posts that everyone contributed, it's becoming clearer and clearer to me that vulnerability can actually be an asset to your business.

When the walls come down, when the curtain is pulled back and you allow people to see you not only as "a brand", but as a real live human person with lots of ups and downs, struggles, and past experiences that have led you to where you are, it creates a deeper connection. A truer connection. A HUMAN connection.

And no matter how well someone may already seem to connect with your brand, your story, what you offer, what you sell- if they can connect to YOU as a person too? The potential for growth in your business becomes exponential.

Because underneath the branding and marketing and pretty pictures, we're all just a person talking to another person, hoping to find a connection with one another.

Allowing yourself to be vulnerable in your business is like opening up an expressway to direct connection with your customers. They feel vulnerable, too. They have their guard up, too. They don't want to buy the wrong thing, make a bad decision, hire the wrong helper-outer.

So, if you can let your guard down to show bits of your true flawed and well-rounded self, your customers/readers/clients just might feel comfortable enough to let their guards down too, and that's where the real communication can begin.

People may admire the perfectly polished professionals who seem to have it all, but they want to talk to, learn from and buy from people who are like them- who understand their needs and struggles inherently.

So where can you be more vulnerable in your business? How can you let people see "behind the curtain" a bit and reveal more? Put yourself "out there" more?

Think about your about page, product descriptions, marketing, blog posts, pitches, social interactions, etc- is there room for more openness and truth in there? I bet so.

Don't be afraid to show it! (I'm working on the same.)

Much mojo to you!
Jena

ps: If you're looking for more clarity, direction and enthusiasm for your indie business, you might like a mojo-session with me! We'll chat one-on-one about the steps you need to take to get your biz where you want it to go. It's fun, fiery and according to my clients, pretty dang helpful!

Why Consistency is so important for business

I was having a mojo session with a lovely lady yesterday (which by the way, is some of the most fun I've ever had in my life- I could talk with people about their businesses all day long!) and we chatted a lot about consistency.

Specifically, we talked about creating more consistency between the different aspects of her brand- the products photos, graphics, overall message & vibe. 

And after our chat, I started thinking about all the things that I've been wanting to change with my own business branding but haven't done yet. You know, all the little things that get pushed to the back-burner behind client work and other priorities (I'm like a contractor with a crummy house, I get it!)

And I started to think about how I could sure use more consistency in my business, too.

And that sucks. Because, I'm not really one for consistency in much other than relationships. I like things to change, I like to feel free, I don't like being pinned down to any one thing- I want to explore it all.

But I realize now, there are a few gaps in the ol' branding machine that more consistency would really help smooth over. It'd make things easier for people to understand me & work with me, and that alone makes it worth it.

Creating more consistency in our branding, in our image, in our message... More consistency in showing up, in communicating, in doing what we say we're going to do...

That's the good kind of consistent that creates a stable base for your customers, and potential customers, to trust you, get to know you and start to rely on you.

Where we can be free to experiment, explore and change it up still, is in our thought process, in our execution, in how we deliver our message.

I'm realizing more and more that consistency doesn't hinder growth, change or creativity- it supports them.

Where could you stand to get more consistent in your business? Are you naturally consistent, or tend to fight it?