Face Your Fears! A Lesson In Self Love – Watch Video Here!

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Here you have it, me facing one of my biggest fears! Face Your Fears Challenge!!

When I began to write my self-love book, over 11 years ago, I challenged my readers to face their biggest fears. One of mine was skydiving. So I did it! I never thought I would ever jump out of a plane. But, I knew that if I was challenging others, I must walk the talk. The reason facing our fears is crucial  is because it allows us to know we are capable of doing things we may not have previously believed we could do. This realization strengthens our mind.

Part of the journey of self-love is developing a strong mind.

Also, many of our fears involve the body and healing occurs through the body. Many times we hold fear in our bodies and when we face our fears, we release some of that old fear and/or trauma.

When I jumped out of that plane to face my own fear, wow, what an amazing experience it was! Because I was so afraid of doing it, it really did teach me I could do anything! In my soon to be released book,  7 Self-Love Strategies for Successful Partnerships, Parenting and Performance,  I talk about how facing our fears allows us to move forward in life.

I challenge you now to face your two biggest fears. Write them down. What is the first action you can take to move towards facing one of your fears? My first action was to invite my sister to join me skydiving and she said yes!

I really had to manage my mind to be able to jump out of that plane!

It was a mind strengthening exercise that prepared me for many challenges to come! The exhilaration I felt afterward was phenomenal. After that jump, I have done many other things that I may never have done had I not faced my fear. I have traveled solo to Guatemala, Peru, Costa Rica, India and Thailand. In my soon to be released book 7 Self-Love Strategies for Successful Partnerships, Parenting and Performance, (Spring/Summer 2014) you can take the journey of self-love with me and find your ultimate power in life. This journey is about loving ourselves so we can live our best life and create successful partnerships, parenting and performance. Are you ready for the challenge? I know you are! Let’s Roll!

Also, if you want to share your two fears or your story, photos, videos, please post below. We love to hear from you and support each other in this lifelong journey.

To purchase a pre-sale copy go here: http://bit.ly/loveme7

For more information on our coaching programs, go here: http://bit.ly/18FeUD0.

Shannon’s passion is partnering with individuals, organizations and families to assist them in living into their highest potential. Her life coaching focuses on the area of self-love and relationships. She has produced two highly acclaimed guided meditation CDs: The Healing Journey Within: Meditations for Abundance and Love Volume I: Deserving and Volume II: Manifesting. She also has trained extensively in the area of counseling. Shannon also is a trained Kundalini yoga instructor. She also developed her business www.healthychildrenofdivorce.com. In this capacity, she specializes in the niche area of families/children of divorce, separation and conflict. She wrote a best selling book “The 7 Fatal Mistakes Divorced and Separated Parents Make: Strategies for Raising Healthy Children of Divorce and Conflict”. She is an advocate for children and parents to live happy, healthy and peace-filled lives.

If you enjoyed this article, her best-selling CDs, The Healing Journey Within: Meditations for Abundance and Love” Volume I Deserving and Volume II: Manifesting, can be found here: http://bit.ly/meditat3. In addition, her highly acclaimed and best-selling book on parenting after divorce and healing after divorce is The 7 Fatal Mistakes Divorced and Separated Parents Make: Strategies for Raising Healthy Children of Divorce and Conflict and can be found here: https://inlovewithme.com/books/. Her new book, In Love With Me: 7 Self-Love Strategies for Successful Partnerships, Parenting and Performance will be released Spring/Summer 2014. To pre-order a PDF copy, go to http://bit.ly/loveme7. For all of her products, click here: https://inlovewithme.com/all-products.

Food and Health Issue 5: What Can You Do To Get Started?

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healthy womanWhat can you do to get started?

  1.  Commit to your health, physically and mentally.  Make a verbal and or written commitment to eating better.
  2. Decide on a period of time 5-21 days where you will either eliminate sugar or wheat from your diet.  My sister used the strategy where she did not eat any white bread or sugar, she changed her eating and exercising habits and lost a lot of weight and felt much better mentally as well.
  3. Know that you have a choice.
  4. Remember this is NOT a diet, it is a way of life.  You are NOT limiting yourself.  Actually eating higher fat allows me foods I have not eating a lot of in the past!
  5. If I have to have chocolate I eat 80% or higher dark chocolate – my favorite is Panama Extra Dark Organic 80%.
  6. Commit to small changes each week.
  7. Get support from an online community, a coach or a natural health practitioner.

Ideas (some things I have done to change my life):

  1. Begin cooking and using coconut oil and coconut milk (the real stuff in the can).
  2. Drink a green smoothie each day (recipe  here).
  3. Limit your sugar.
  4. Read EVERY label before buying anything!  If it has words you can not read or pronounce then your body CAN NOT process them either, put it down and move on to something with less ingredients.
  5. Do not eat anything with added sugars
  6. Do not eat anything with more than 5% sugar per serving.
  7. Take at least the top of your bun off every sandwich and cut your hamburger or meat, and just allow yourself a taste of the wheat if you really need that.

Spokes of Leadership

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As I recently was working with a  leader who had just taken a new role in the organization, a very high level role, we discussed all of his “spokes”.

Spokes are the many aspects of your leadership in your life and or work.

spokes of leadershipWhat are the important areas that you want to focus on?  The vision, the people, the process, the change, the product, leadership style, recognition?  This leader needed to communicate his big vision to his team .  He needed to really become clear on the spokes that make his wheel go around.  I asked him to list everything  (all important areas) and then fill in on his sheet (in a big circle) all the aspects that he wanted to communicate to his team about each of these areas.   I asked him to post them in his office when he was complete.

For some of us, getting visual is a really big key in helping us carry out our goals.  When it is nebulous in our minds, it can be hard to execute and communicate to others.  Especially for new leaders, this is a very crucial activity to ensure they are driving the vision of their team.

I encourage you to decide what are the spokes of your wheel in your personal life or your business life.  Then assess what you want to accomplish in each area.  Then communicate that to your team, your leader or your family.  You could also do this as a team or a family exercise.

Happy biking!!

Executive Leadership Coach and Health of Leaders

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executive leadership coach and foodIn part of my business I work as an executive leadership coach.

I love this work, assisting leaders in being the best possible leader for their people.  This work always focuses on the leaders overall health.  Again if they are not healthy they will not create healthy teams and organizations.

As I worked with one leader as her executive leadership coach, I discussed my own personal journey of not eating sugar/gluten and making a good green smoothie in the morning for breakfast.   She was really interested in my journey and I told her the book I had just read “Wheat Belly” and explained how all of this food can really negatively impact us.

Little do I sometimes know how much my words impact others.   In a meeting a couple months later she said to me “I have to tell you that I have now eliminated gluten/wheat from my diet”.  She went on to explain that she has diabetes and that this practice has made her feel significantly better and lowered her blood sugar levels were more regulated and had lowered.  So much that her medical doctor said, “what what have you been doing”.  When she told her doctor what she had committed to the doctor said “wow that must be hard to give up wheat”.  My leader said “and giving yourself shots every day is easy?”.  I was so proud of her!   This is the most positive form of self leadership and love and I can imagine!

What can you commit to today to bring your nutrition and health leadership to the next level??

It’s not the years in your life….but the life in your years

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So true.  I found this today (August 28, 2013) as I was looking for a frame for a photo for someone who is very sick and has a very slight chance to live.  I almost feel like the angels had me find this so I knew that she had a good life overall and that she has really enjoyed her time with my Dad.  She has been my Dad’s partner the last 18 months but I will have to say that these may have been the best 18 months of his life.  They were two peas in a pod; got up early, went to bed early.  They liked to cook fish and live in the middle of nowhere in WI.  They both enjoyed having a partner.  He even got her to sleep on an air mattress (every night).   I am sad for the potential loss of a good partnership.  They sometimes seem challenging to come by these days.  As I begin my own next chapter of my partnership with my partner, it really makes me think.  I am truly glad that I do this work in the world.  I don’t think I could really do anything else.  If I am not helping others live their best life, then I would not be doing what I came here to do.  I had told Rose that she was what my Dad needed, a strong woman.  I think partnership takes huge strength and love of ourselves.  That is the entire concept of my work www.inlovewithme.com and www.healthychildrenofdivorce.com .  Truly if you love yourself you will raise the healthiest children.  If you are not happy in your relationships, you have to look to yourself and question the amount of love you have for yourself.  Life is way too short not to.

Today I want to thank Rose, for showing me what good partnership looks like, for being a strong woman and for loving my dad.  “It is not the Years in Your Life…..But the Life in Your Years…”.  You have really touched my life.

What can you do to love yourself deeper today, to take care of yourself better today, to love someone else today?

rose and dad photo

IN LOVING MEMORY OF ROSE

September 3, 1941 – August 30, 2013

One Step Closer to You

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Self-love is all about becoming closer to ourselves. This 4th of July, doing yoga on the rocks and listening to Michael Franti at the Red Rocks Ampitheatre brought me closer to myself.

Taking the time to reflect and look inward can be a challenge for us all in this day and age of busy-ness and technology.

What I find is that when I slow down and take time to meditate, I truly accomplish more. And life seems so much easier. On this 4th of July weekend as we celebrate our freedom in the U.S.A., it’s a wonderful time to think about how each of us can be more free every moment of our day.

At the end of our lives, we will never look back and wish we had been busier. We most likely will be so grateful for all the small things we took time to appreciate and cherish.  The first key is appreciation and cherishing ourselves, and then others.

My wish for you is your ultimate freedom and love. I encourage you to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and envision yourself surrounded by love. You are pure love. You are pure freedom.