38 Special

By Julie Strzyz

October 21^st marked my 38^th birthday.  I’ve always been a huge fan of celebrating birthdays – especially my own – but this birthday hit me a bit differently.  You see, my father passed away at the age of 38 (when I was only 9 years old).  He was a bright, talented guy with many gifts. Unfortunately, he didn’t share those gifts due to fear: fear of failure, fear of imperfection, fear of what others would think, etc.  He let fear cripple him and it ended his life early, leaving behind a young wife and daughter.

As a child, 38 seemed forever and a day away.  But we all know what time does: it flies! So here 38 is…screaming and staring at me in the face. And I am scared. Scared that I will let fear win by not doing all the things I want to do and somehow have the same fate as my dad.

New Website and Blog for Envision Success Inc!

Exciting news!  EnvisionSuccessInc.com got a face-lift and we are thrilled to be including our newest blog posts at that location!

Say Yes to YOU Instead

By Julie Strzyz

Let’s face it, we are in an era of pure overwhelm. We are constantly inundated with messages via text, email, social media, etc. as well as requests for our time and attention. Whether it is receiving messages about a project to which you apparently need to respond ASAP or being asked to volunteer for yet another one of your child’s activities, it simply becomes too much. Yet we keep saying yes. To everything. Every time.

We say yes to things we never really wanted to do in the first place because we either feel obligated or do not want to disappoint others – or both.

Afraid of Having it All?

By Heather Legge
Is it possible that you've been holding yourself back because you're afraid of REAL success?  I've been a bit surprised by this being fairly common among my clients.  Previously, I would have guessed that more people were afraid of failure. But for driven, talented people --they know they can get things done.  Sure, they don't want to fail, or look the fool in front of others.  But, moreso they are afraid of WHO they will become when they achieve REAL success. 

Toughen Up Buttercup!

By Heather Legge  

While chatting with another woman owner, up came the topic of how most of us achiever-type women (and some men) have a kind of conditioning of "Never Show Weakness".  More than the "never let them see you sweat" concept, it seems to have been adopted not only in business, but 24x7 in every area of life and relationships too, so that the perception is we are simply not allowing ourselves to fail at anything, and to not talk about it either.  

It's not all sunshine and rainbows living this way!  It's too much pressure to keep up a facade of toughness, plus we know what happens over time: in addition to the occasional embarrassing meltdown, we have poor health, severed relationships, end-of-life regrets, and a whole lot of other crap to look forward to.  All of which we might be able to avoid by dialing it down a notch.  It took me about 35 years to figure this out.  

Shift Your Days: Less Shitty, More Great

You know those days where things just flow, stuff gets done, and you leap over buildings in a single bound?  (Pretty much the opposite of "that totally sucked" followed by "shit, we're out of wine.")  A lot of people are in a rut of frantic mornings and a flurry of effort and exhaustion while nothing important gets done.  You're not like that- you're ahead of the pack.  But what if you knew how to never have a shitty day again?  

Try these 4 simple shifts in your morning or evening routines to make more of your regular days great ones.  No, of course it's not all sunshine and rainbows, but you might say "Damn, I'm good!" more often.

Change the Way You Live! Start Now.

Nothing irks me more than whiny complainers who do nothing to improve their situation.

Want true happiness?  Want better health?  Want more wealth?
  
Stop falling into the trap of staying stuck.  Stop making excuses.  Strike the word "but" from your vocabulary.  If you really want to make changes, decide what you CAN do and get after it!  Here are some steps to improve your quality of life:

Where Does The Time Go?

If you're not sure where your time is going, tracking what you spend time on is the BEST way to get to any core issues.  Yeah, I know- it's a pain.  But, SOOOO worth it!  You will be amazed - likely you'll be both pleasantly surprised and completely disgusted after reviewing your results.  Importantly, you'll gain insight and motivation to make some changes to you can get more priority stuff done in less time.   Following are tips for tracking so you can make changes and reap the benefits of better time use!

Design Your Best Schedule

Chances are, you are one of the millions out there feeling over-scheduled, under-effective, and worn out.  What to do about it?  First, decide that although it's common, it's doesn't have to be YOUR "normal."  Make a commitment to yourself for the next week to make some improvements.  Can you make 3 simple changes within one week that will help you better support your success?  I hope so!  How are you going to leave a powerful, positive legacy if you are exhausted?

Marvelously Simple, Stupid

“It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.”  

-Amelia Barr

Many people think that in order to dream and achieve marvelous things that marvelous measures must be taken.  And when those marvelous measures are deemed too drastic, they stop dreaming and achieving altogether.  However, I have four little words for you:  Keep It Simple, Stupid.

I say that very lovingly, of course.  What I mean by “K-I-S-S” is that you can continue to dream and achieve the marvelous if you just break things down into simpler steps. 

Want to completely shift careers? 

Why Aren't You More Successful?

You work hard, you worry, you're tired--but for all that, why aren't you more successful? 
Chances are, you're not really applying your time, money, or energy in the right directions, or with enough intensity.  Let's review 3 critical, yet simple things the most successful people do differently from the rest:

1- Know what you want
How can you possibly get from A to B if you don’t know what B is? Do you just get in your car and start driving aimlessly? NO, before you get to the end of your street, you know your desired destination. Strangely, most people don’t know what they want. Like most people, I used to spend more time determining where to go for dinner, or making out their Christmas list than determining what to accomplish over the next year. What do you want to be known for?