FIND yourself. LOOK your best. LIVE your life.

Living the Classy Life - FIND yourself. LOOK your best. LIVE your life.

Category Archives: Classy Mind

Motivational Minute Monday: What’s in your head?

While on Facebook, I came across this post from ZigZiglar.com:

 

Why is this great for this week’s Motivational Minute Monday?

Because it’s true! Where you are in your life today is because of what’s been going on in your head. Whether you’re happy or sad, content with your life or looking for more — it’s mostly because of what you’ve acted on, based on what thoughts are running through your mind. And that’s great news! Because when you’re ready, you can start taking the steps towards living your classy life!

Your homework this week:

Take some time this week (right now if you can) to analyze what’s going on in your mind, and ways to turn any negatives into positives. (If you’d like some help with that contact me and consider my Transformation Consultations.)

Until next week,

Stay Classy!

~A.C. Taylor

It’s OK to Share!

One of the most puzzling areas for me to find balance is: time. And with the litany of “time management” books and software out there, I get the feeling I’m not alone!

The hardest part for me has been finding the time to get it all done. To take care of everything on my lists. (I have multiple lists…) Yes, I do prioritize – and usually get to what’s most important on each list. But then I feel guilty about what I didn’t do… like not making that extra phone call, or getting a load of laundry done, or spending some play time with the dogs.

I can sympathize with how important it is for parents to have a schedule that works for both you and your children, especially with the new school year beginning.

The answer that’s worked for me is something that we all learned in kindergarten…


Continue reading →

Classy, Clean and Clutter Free… Part 1

How often do you start your day hyper-focused, your ‘to-do’ list all set to go, but by the time  you actually get around to starting your list – you’re tuckered out? Why might that be? Well, if you’re like me, it’s because you spent the first part of today finishing yesterday.

Let me explain…

Often times we want to get everything done–housekeeping, work, kids, dinner, shopping, pets, quiet time and more–but in reality, we only have enough time and energy to tackle the precious few items that keep our lives running as smoothly as possible. Everything else takes a backseat – but continues to be in the forefront of our minds. And what we don’t finish today spills over into tomorrow.

This difficult juggling act of life can, at times, be very frustrating. (As shown through the growing “to-do” lists, piles of paper on our desks, and multiple areas of clutter.)

Why We Need Clutter-Free Spaces

As women we tend to be quite in tune with our environments; living and working in a cluttered space causes stress, sometimes anger, and can just plain get in the way!

However, starting your day with a clean, organized environment is something you can control, and doing so can have a dramatically positive effect on your daily life.

Many of the successful and classy ladies I know have a system they follow to keep things in order. They either work their systems on their own, or, hire someone else to help them instead. (Thereby freeing up even more time–we’ll talk more on that in a later post.)  The key is to find a system that works for you – so that you actually do it.

What’s Working for Me, So Far…

Recently I discovered the website FlyLady.com, and I’ve been using it to help me gain order. What I like about the FlyLady is that she demonstrates a way of gaining order without feeling overwhelmed. I can take things one step at a time – at my own pace.Step one of the FlyLady program is a deep cleaning of your kitchen sink. Though I thought this was an odd place to start, I must admit that the feeling of accomplishment I experienced after getting that done was so worth it. Seeing my super clean and shiny sink really did invoke a  “Yes-I-did-it!” happy feeling. Now, I smile when I walk into my kitchen – instead of frowning at the disorderly mess.

For me, beginning my day in a clean, organized kitchen is a much needed calm that gets my day off to a better start.

My questions to you are:

  • Do you have clutter in your home?
  • If so, how does seeing that clutter make you feel?
  • How does that feeling affect your relationships with others?

Feel free to leave a comment below, or direct message me with questions or suggestions on getting organized.

Stay Classy!
~A.C. Taylor

Enhanced by Zemanta

What Are You Waiting For?

The following poem is an excerpt from a book titled, Today Matters: 12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrow’s Success, by John C. Maxwell.

So Stop Waiting…

Until your car or home is paid off.

Until you get a new car or home.

Until your  kids leave the house.

Until you go back to school.

Until you finish school.

Until you lose ten pounds.

Until you gain ten pounds.

Until you get married.

Until you get a divorce.

Until you have kids.

Until you retire.

Until summer.

Until spring.

Until winter.

Until fall.

Until you die.

 

Waiting is easy. It requires no risk, nor change. It’s an unfortunate comfort zone that many of us get stuck in.

Working for your dreams is hard. It’s scary. It’s exciting. It requires you to try new things and learn new ways of thinking.

It’s easy to get stuck in the the “Comfort Zone Tar Pit”, as I call it. “The Pit” is a terrible place to be because it produces the same result time and again – procrastination. Being in The Pit delays your goals, dreams and even income! The more time spent wallowing in The Pit, the less time you have available to enjoy living your Classy Life.

I, for one, got tired of it. That’s why I started jotting down some of the excuses that kept me in my pit so I could work to overcome them.

And I found that one easy remedy is simply to act.

When you act, excuses literally just disappear. When I act, I get results. No longer am I just pining for change - I am achieving it! And those annoying excuses… they’ve became mere background noise.

One of my personal “pits” is exercising. I don’t like it. I avoid it. And, I often tell myself  “I don’t have time to exercise because I’m too busy”. Yet, when I purposely seek out 10 minutes a day to do a physical activity I enjoy — I find the time is there after all. (Heck, I’ve even started an activity expecting to spend only 10 minutes on it, and before I know it 30 minutes have gone by!)

By doing something positive toward a goal I’ve been “wishing” to achieve I’m attaining what I’d previously thought I could only hope for!

To Live the Classy Life you must challenge yourself (and others) to achieve more and to grow. This cannot be done while sitting around and waiting for things to change. Sometimes you have to act. Whether you feel like it or not.

My Questions To You Are:

  • What are you waiting for? and,
  • What are you going to do today to achieve it?

Spend a half hour today to really think about and jot down some of what’s keeping you in your “Comfort Zone Tar Pit” (read: excuses). Contact me if any of your “pits” are keeping you from looking better, feeling better, or earning some extra income.

Stay Classy!
~Alyssa

Enhanced by Zemanta

How My Pets Are Teaching Me To Overcome Fears

I have dogs. Sweet, curious, and lovingly-playful dogs. Recently, one of them illustrated for me a life lesson that I’ve heard about, read about, and even pondered. I’d just never seen it so plainly in action before. It’s a lesson every Classy Lady can learn from…

She showed me the importance of overcoming fear.

Here’s what happened…

One of my dogs absolutely loves toys. It can be a chew toy, a stick, a tennis ball… you name it, she’ll make a toy out of it. One of her most “happy-joy” times of the day is when she’s playing with a chew toy. So, I decided to have some fun and placed a tennis ball on top of a roll of paper towels which was sitting on the nightstand. The goal: for her to get the toy. The fear (as I soon found out): was a scary roll of paper towels that moved when touched.

Reczniki papierowe

Image via Wikipedia

Here’s what I witnessed…

Even though her greatest desire (at that moment) was literally inches away; she was too afraid to go for it. Her fear was holding her back! I mean, here was this intelligent, hyper-focused, find-a-way-to-make-it-happen dog just sitting, frozen in fear, sometimes even running away, because of a roll of paper towels! How silly is that?!

That’s when I had my “aha moment.” I saw how false fears (something that you think is true, but actually can’t harm you physically or emotionally) can keep you from what you want the most.

The same lesson applies to us humans. All we have to do is overcome our fears…  and we can grow into the people that we strive to be, and achieve the goals and dreams that we hold dear.

This is a lesson that so many of us women, myself included, have to work through–especially when making a life change. I’ve found it’s also one of the great benefits of being an entrepreneur. When working for yourself, you’re forced to work on personal growth and  (hopefully) conquer the obstacles that keep you from reaching your dreams.

And yes, I finally did give in and toss her the ball. But life doesn’t give in. You have to get it yourself.

My Questions To You Are:

  • What are your goals and dreams?
  • What fear (if any) is holding you back from reaching those goals and dreams?
  • What is this fear costing you? Or, What would you gain by overcoming this fear?
  • Is it a “false” fear (something that scares you but cannot physically hurt you)?
    • If so, what are some steps you can take to move past it?
Let me know what you think! You can contact me now by leaving a comment below, or by clicking here to send a private email. I’ll be happy to share with you what I’m doing to reach MY dreams and offer ideas on how you can reach yours!

 

Enhanced by Zemanta