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January 14, 2013
Miracle mindset

Gabrielle Bernstein MCMIllustration of Gabrielle Bernstein author of NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLING book  “May Cause Miracles”

Illustration of Photo by Roni Martin Photography

Stop playing small

So this January I am really taking to heart fresh starts and fresh beginnings.  It’s about time I take on a cleaner and healthier lifestyle.

I have been dabbling in it for over 2 years now with my mentor Gabrielle Bernstein but this year I have made a serious commitment to myself and to my body to make this happen, day by day.  My boyfriend and I are making healthier choices, and I am committed to meditating every day, and taking tons of baths.  Baths are something that help me completely decompress and find a new perspective on things. It’s like my second office.

It’s not that I have any diagnosed health problems, but I have long been in the grey area between perfect health and dis-ease.

Stress and possible food allergies have plagued me for over 10 years causing some really serious stomach issues, pain, fatigue and more to the point where it has interfered with my life. So many specialists and doctors have continually found no answers.

I’m ready to take charge and get serious in terms of my health by how I manage my stress and what I put into my body.

It is perfect timing that my Mentor, Spiritual Guru and friend Gabrielle Bernstein’s new book came out “May Cause Miracles.” (link)

Gabbys new book “May Cause Miracles” is  “a 40 day guidebook of subtle shifts for radical change and unlimited happiness”. After working with her for over 2 years, today I am on day 8 of her new book.

In the book you go day by day to really unearth your fears, bring to light your thought patterns, see what keeps you stuck and recognize how you can change your mindset, and in turn change your outcomes.

One of the best things Gabby has said to me is:
“Identify your fears and do it anyway.”

I have been doing this for over 2 years now, but it is a life long process. Each time you clear out one level of fear (and fear = stress), there is another layer to be picked at next.

It’s like layers of an onion, or as Gabby says, polishing your crystal, taking a diamond in the ruff and cutting it so that it sparkles bright like it was meant to.

Choosing this path has changed my life in so many ways that I cannot even explain and so many amazing and unthinkable miracles have happened. I am so grateful for Gabby that she is able to help so many people who may not even know what they need, but know there is something they need to change.

It’s like going to the gym.  You can’t go for a year, get the perfect body and then be done for the rest of your life. I am hard-core and dedicated to making my life the best it can be as a lifestyle because I deserve it, I deserve health, pain free living and a life beyond my wildest dreams because I have a SH*T TON of work to do. I have so many more things to create, design and bring to fruition to serve as many people as possible.  We all do. We all have some reason to live our best lives so we can do the most with it we possibly can.

My friend and inspirational speaker Kelly Lynn Adams said in her latest blog (link) “Whatever our dreams and desires are were given to us for a specific reason. We are called to live out our dreams and desires in this world so that it can benefit others.

Your specific dreams and desires were given to you because you are the one that is capable of bringing them into the world.”

This gave me chills. I love being reminded of that truth and being validated for so many years that I have believed in my dreams.

I want to eradicate fear from my life and live the life beyond my wildest dreams. Gabrielle is a true example of this, seeing her really achieve her dreams and have her work serve so many people who need it. It is pure proof of concept and amazing to watch.

Thank you Gabby and Kelly for inspiring me and as always,

I hope that inspires YOU!

Xoxo

Emily

 

 

January 10, 2013
Go for it!

Go for it!

Now that 2013 is upon us it is time to put those goals and resolutions to the test.

You’ve decided what you want; now how do you begin to tackle the task?

Daunting a bit isn’t it?

You could:

A)   Decide it’s too big of a goal and procrastinate before you even get started.

Or

B)    Decide it’s going to happen and you won’t waste another year wishing for something you are not taking any action on.

Just a friendly reminder:

We miss 100% of the shots we do not take.

Ready? Ok here’s how to get what you want!

1) You will only accomplish goals you ACTUALLY want to accomplish. This may sound obvious but don’t set the goal of abstaining from sugar if you love sweets way too much. Instead set a goal like only eating natural sweet foods like dates, fruit and natural sweeteners like honey or agave nectar instead of eating any white sugar or artificial sugar or foods.

2) Plan it out. Think really long and hard what you actually need to do to accomplish this goal. If you don’t know – find out!

3) Visualize it. Studies show that athletes who visualized their plays when undergoing brain scans use the same parts of their brain visualizing their moves as they do actually performing them. What does this mean? Practice makes perfect and if you can only practice in your head, it will be like you have already done it to your brain, your muscles, your nervous system and your intuition. This will make it easier for you to actually accomplish your goal because it will be as if you have done this before!

4) Start small. Break your goal into small steps that you can easily accomplish like making one phone call today or substituting one snack with fruit.

5) Start NOW. There is no time like the present, and if you wait any longer it gets even easier to keep putting it off.

6) Remember “progress not perfection”.  I remember my friend Arielle Fierman from Bewellwitharielle.com gave me this amazing piece of advice when I first started this Illustration and consulting business. She told me to make business cards for this new company really early on. Not knowing exactly what I was going to specialize in, I had no idea what to put on the cards.  She told me “progress, not perfection” to just do it and I can always change them later.  This was a huge hurdle for me that I was able to over come with this brand new mantra thanks to Arielle. If she had not told me that, it would have delayed my progress significantly – me being the perfectionist that I am – and that can become really debilitating to a new project or goal.  So start now and make progress, not perfection your goal. The more progress you make, the closer to perfection each time!

7) Set milestones. Milestones are stages into which a program or project is divided. They break the project or goal up in to bite size chunks so that it is easier to accomplish these smaller steps then wrap your mind around accomplishing a big, daunting and scary task.

8) Check in with your progress.  Keep going back to your milestone list and see how you are doing. Hold yourself accountable.

9) Celebrate each milestone. Each small accomplishment should be relished and celebrated. This will keep you going for the long haul.

10) Don’t self sabotage. Sometimes when we are so close to accomplishing a goal we tend to psychologically freak ourselves out thinking we don’t deserve the goal, feeling sad that the project is coming to an end, feeling like we aren’t ready for it to happen or not knowing what comes next. Check yourself before you wreck yourself.  You fully deserve to reach your goals and you need to trust that everything will work itself out. You will be ready for what lies ahead and you can break through that “glass ceiling” of your previous accomplishments.

You can do it, so GO for it!

Hope that inspires you!

Xoxo

Emily

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2012
2013 This is OUR year, breathe it in.

New Years Eve IllustrationHappy New Year and Happy 2 Year Anniversary to my blog on January 1st!!! Resolutions do stick sometimes, huh.

What an exciting year it has been!

I am proud to say this is also the 6-month anniversary of my weekly Newsletter (subscribe here to get in on it)! It is a promise that I have made 6 months ago to deliver weekly illustrations and blog posts to you, and it is something I have taken seriously and proudly kept up, every week for 6 months!

Thus far I have created 23 new illustrations for my blog alone in these last 6 months, and at the end of the one-year anniversary of these newsletters will have created 52 blog illustrations – and that does not include illustrations I have done for clients!

Some of these illustrations have gone on to become products for my online store that launched only a month and a half ago!!! It feels like it has been at least a year! That is another one of my exciting business moves made this year!!! That’s right I am celebrating! And you should celebrate all of your accomplishments this past year too!

I can honestly say that creating this blog for you is probably my favorite thing to do all week.  I look forward to it coming out every Thursday via email. To express myself in writing and create a beautiful illustration each week gives me so much joy, especially because it is created with the intention to inspire, and if it has inspired at least one person then I have done my job.

I wanted to say a big thank you to YOU for taking the time to read my blogs and view my illustrations! Your support inspires me to keep moving towards my dreams – and with that, on with my blog – a blog dedicated to inspiring you BIG time to live your dreams in 2013 and beyond.

Hope you enjoy….

“Imagine that anything is possible, and name the most amazing thing that could happen in 2013.” – Marianne Williamson.

What would it be?

“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” – Oprah Winfrey.

What would you ask for?

“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”  – Oprah Winfrey.

Are you up for that adventure?

“Imagine if you were not afraid to fail. What would you be doing right now.” – Oprah Winfrey.

Now take this New Year, and run with it. Do it. Live it how you want to.

What would you do differently?  What would you do more of?  What would you do less of?  Who would you not spend time with?  Who would you see more often?  What would you say that has thus far been left unsaid?

What would you say NO to? What would you say Yes to?

It is a brand new year, a year that many of us have gone through hoops of fire to get to. What would you do with this newfound gift? What would you do if you had another chance to get it right, if you had a clean slate?

If you are on the right path, how can you give more, serve more and be more of that?

This is OUR year. Breathe it in. 

This will be a year of significant change. I can feel it in my bones and it’s inspiring.  The climate of our society, of our economy and of our trust in humanity is being tested.  We, as individuals must rise above the challenges and “Be the change we wish to see in the world” – Ghandi.

Change yourself.  You are in control.
Forgive and let go.
Take care of this moment.  Without action, you aren’t going anywhere. See the good in people and help them persist. Be congruent, be authentic and be your true self. Continue to grow and evolve.

These are Ghandi’s fundamentals for changing the world.

“To the world you are one person, but to one person you may mean the world.” – Unknown.

Every little bit counts.  Seconds make up minutes and minutes make up hours.

Do you have the guts to see it through?  Can you hold yourself up to the standards you have set for yourself in your heart?

If you are the author to the story of your life, what does 2013 hold for you?

Let me know! You can leave comments below to share your goals and visions for 2013!

Hope that inspires you to live an inspired life!

Happy NEW YEAR!

Xoxo

Emily

 

December 20, 2012
4 easy steps to Feed your soul and get ready for the New Year!

Bubble BathJust like we reorganize our desks, or schedules and even our homes – sometimes we also need to reorganize our soul.

What this means is simple yet it takes the time to go inside your mind and really think about what you want and your priorities.   When we feel out of balance its because something is not getting enough attention. Today for me that was taking some time for myself.

When your body tells you something, you should listen because it is the physical reaction you are getting to something not being taken care of.

I was completely drained of sleep, running on empty and my throat was starting to hurt after a long week of work and a weekend of travel. Especially for me, my right brain totally needs to be recharged and refreshed when it comes to getting great work done.

When you are trying to make big things happen you need to see the big picture and not just the small tasks. I had been focused on the small details of getting things done, the logistics. This is great and incredibly necessary, however when it starts to wear on your body – that is the message you need in order to step back and revitalize yourself.

In order to feed your soul you must first prep yourself to get in the right mindset.

1) First try Taking a longer lunch break, having an energy charging and slightly guilty snack (bananas, nutella and peanut butter – yum), taking some time to close the computer down early and put your feet up, or even my favorite – taking a bath are simple ways to recharge your mind and your body.  This will get your thinking back on track instead of in over-whelm or task mode.

For a night owl like me, I am generally up working on my computer till 3am, sometimes even 4 or 5am getting things done.  When you have a ton of work, and even when you have an absurd amount of work to do – if you fee stuck, that is exactly when you need to stop and recharge.

When you come back refreshed you will be able to do all of your work so much faster and way more efficiently.

2) Spend some extra time doing small things to make yourself happy and that have been clogging up your mind space. Maybe organizing your desk will make you feel better, maybe it’s making the inside of your dresser or jewelry area look more beautiful and inspiring. Whatever it is, I highly suggest cleaning up your physical environment a bit to feed your soul. Trust me, it works!

When you check a few small things off your list you will feel way more accomplished then if you aren’t even half way through your one big project.  Then, once those few small things are done you can get back to the middle of your big project and feel tremendously more satisfied.

Now you can focus better and have activated your right brain.  Your right brain is the part of your body that makes creative and big picture decisions.

3) The Pie Method Grab a sacred journal or a piece of paper and figure things out.  I learned this from my friend who had attended a Tony Robins weekend lecture and it was extremely helpful to put things in perspective for me.

Start by drawing a big circle in the middle of a fresh sheet of paper. Draw slices like a pie to show 8 equal sections of your life and label them on the outside of the pie:  Career, Money, Family, Friends, Health, Living Environment, Personal development and Spiritual / Emotional wellbeing.  You can even get more specific. If you just want to focus on your health make your sections be eating habits, workouts, alcohol consumption, weight, time spent sitting still, active time, etc.

It’s about you so if you want to change the topics or add more or less slices to the pie, be my guest. The main goal here is to keep the slices equal, measure the most important categories in your life and see how you can improve them to feel balanced.

Next, rate each section from 1 to 10 on how satisfied you are with the particular category and fill in the slice of the pie respectively. If you are a 2 in say your career, color in about 20% of the pie from the center moving outwards.  If you are a 6, color in about 60% of the slice from the center moving outwards. If you are 10 you are at 100% and your whole slice should be filled in from the center to the outside edge of the circle. Get it?

4) Notice the parts that are lacking and make a plan.  Now comes the hard part.  Look at how you rated each category and mark this exercise with today’s date. I like to come back to it whenever I feel the need and redraw my results to compare progress.   Look at the slices that are low.  Take a few minutes to figure out why you rated these categories so low and what you can do about it to change this part of your life.

Let’s say you rated your friendships at 40%.  Set some goals for next month or year to schedule one phone call a week or a coffee date with a different friend a few times a month.

This is how you feed your soul. When we feel balanced, all areas of our life should be pretty even. If you rated some areas less than a 4 and others at 8’s or 9’s you know you may need to put some extra time into raising those lower rated areas.  If the topic weren’t important to you, it wouldn’t even be on your graph. I know it’s impossible to rate all of your life areas at a 10 and if you did, you are not being honest with yourself – but it is ok to evaluate and readjust where you spend your time and energy.

Feeling balanced in life will enable you to do more with your time and energy. You will actually have more energy from the feeling of fulfillment you get when your life is balanced.

We all have tons to work on and it’s a learning process that we call life.  Don’t be so hard on yourself and know that where you put your energy, you see results.

Hope that inspires you and may you live a more balanced Holiday and New Year!
xoxo

Emily

December 13, 2012
Give it your best, Don’t save anything for later!!!!

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If any of you have ever worked with Leandro Carvalho, the amazing fitness trainer and creator of Brazil Butt Lift then you have heard this phrase before in his exotic Brazilian accent!

This phrase, while I was doing some Brazilian moves, stopped me in my tracks.

“Give it your all, don’t save anything for later!” “Don’t settle for less.”

How many times do we all do that? I am so guilty of this, rationing my time, my use of things, and my energy.  Even literally thinking sometimes during a work out, oh I’ll just go slow at the beginning so I can have some energy for the rest of it.

How crazy is this? We all know deep down that there is an infinite amount of energy that we all possess. We can all recharge at any moment. If we “used all our energy” in this one work out, that would mean that we would literally never have ANY energy left and practically die the next moment. This is over dramatic and obviously not the case, although we all like to get into that false “story” that there is not enough to go around. If there is not enough to go around, how come there is more produced each and every day?

It’s about realizing there IS more to go around.

Realizing that if you give it all of your energy, you still will create more energy – and that there isn’t just a finite amount of what you can give every day, even every moment.

Still don’t believe me? Ever have a day when you felt like complete and utter crap and you maybe felt sick, depressed, couldn’t even stand up and had to lay down?  Think about that, then think about what would happen if all of a sudden you got a phone call with some AMAZING news that you got invited to a sold out concert of your favorite artist of all time, or just got a delivery of a dozen roses in the mail, or just got a phone call from your friend singing a silly song to you.  Your energy would change.

Still not convinced? What if you got a call that you had won the lottery?

Your mood would change, your energy would recharge so fast and you would practically jump out of bed and do a happy dance. (Wait am I the only one who does that? Hehe) Even if you were terribly sick, you would at least be able to get excited. Even cancer patients have been known to cure or lessen their symptoms with laughter and positive energy, some have even beat the disease because of it.

Realizing that if you give it all, all of your time, there will still be more time. If you give all of your attention, there will still be more attention to give, each and every day. Your body and your energy replenish themselves each morning you wake up, and each time you take a break.

When you give it all, you actually inspire yourself and create even more energy then you normally would.

If you were to only give 10% of your energy on a work out, assuming you would need the other 90% another time or for something else, you would never really get a good work out in right? And further more that 90% of energy that you had been saving for your next work out is not something you can just put on an invisible shelf and reach up for the next time you need it. Energy is fluid, it moves, it changes, it goes to other uses, it gets depleted but it also and more importantly gets recharged.

Saving your good china for that special day, saving the good living room for “company only”, saving that last piece of dessert for later that you may never end up eating or will end up spoiling will not make you happier. It will only make you live in fear of not having enough.

Don’t save anything for later. Live for today, live for NOW. And know that what you need will come back to you.

Have you ever had “just enough” money to pay your bills and then the next month “just enough” again. You got more didn’t you?

Now, I’m not saying to spend frivolously or perform gymnastic moves on the couch you save for “company” or play frisbee with your good china; but how about savoring it and treating that special day as now, having the “company” be you.

Enjoying what you have. When you pass away, it’s not like you can take any of this with you, and life is fleeting so enjoy it while it lasts. You never know what tomorrow may bring.

Do you really want to look back on your life and say, “I never even used my good china once, never sat in my living room, I never wore that dress because I was saving it, and now it doesn’t fit.” Or “I just wish I did that more often or did more of so and so.”

Don’t live with regret. Do what your heart desires NOW!

One of my favorite sayings is this, and I know I’ve said it before to you: “There are 7 days in the week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. SOMEDAY IS NOT ONE OF THEM!!!!!!”

What are you waiting for!!!

“Don’t settle for less.” “Give it all you’ve got!”

Now get up and do that which you have been “saving for later”.

Hope that inspires you!
xoxo

Emily

 

December 6, 2012
Giving up Good for Great

In relationships and business…

This is probably one of the hardest things to do in life, give up “good” for “great” – we feel like we may as well be “looking a gift horse in the mouth”, so to speak.

Like a lot of us we have been taught to appreciate everything we have and to work hard for it, as we should. To appreciate stability and security; in your relationships, in career, in your personal life and all other areas is a part of the American dream. Also to find something secure, get a good job, settle down, and be responsible, especially when times are uncertain and chaos is all around us.  However, this concept taken too far can be the seeds that are planted for complacency.

When you have something “good” going on, when do you give it all up in the name of finding something “Great”?

I was watching Bravo’s new show Silicon Valley last night (where one of the new starlet’s Sarah Austin, is a former cast mate of mine from the online reality show we filmed called “The Lights”) and one of the girls named Kim was about to leave her well paid and well situated job to embark on a new journey into starting her own business.

I remember the feeling exactly – the moment I decided to take the leap and start my first business.  I was working at a fashion brand that was part of Gucci Group (the cream of the crop in my opinion) and our department was downsized in 2009 when the recession hit. I was faced with two options: find another job – a job at which I would still be working for someone else’s dream regardless of how much, or how little money I was paid, and regardless of how much, or how little creative freedom I was given.  Or, I could start my own business.

I was 24 and I was so naive. 

But I had a dream, and I had just the right amount of naivety and ambition to get started.  Knowing what I know now about the business and being an entrepreneur – I know it had to happen the way it did because sometimes you have to be at a turning point to make a move like that. It was a craving I always had since I was little, although I didn’t understand what the ‘labels’ of it entailed, I knew I always wanted to be a fashion designer and work for myself.

Knowing that at that moment I gave up “good” for “great” is one of the best feelings of my life. To know that I choose the path less taken and the path that will allow my soul to soar and be free.

They say that “Entrepreneurship is living like most people won’t for a few years, so that you can live like most people can’t for the rest of your life.”

This is completely true. It means being broke, being tired, sacrificing your social life, your complexion and sometimes even your health to create something beautiful that you love and that can help others in some way.

The same goes for relationships.  Sometimes you have to give up the “good” – the security, the routine, the safety, the partner and the companionship – for something that is “great”, and for that matter “amazing”.

It takes risking everything, being vulnerable, letting your emotions and your deepest darkest feelings be heard.  It takes feeling naked, raw, and breaking down the walls and boundaries to open up to your genuine truth. It’s about proclaiming the little and the big things you need in life to be fulfilled and really hearing the other person’s feelings and needs as well.

It’s about opening up to all of that – and even when you have finally gone down to exposing your most raw and private wound, it’s about having the strength to walk away if your needs can honestly not be met.

It’s in that experience that you give up “good” for “great” and it can happen in one of two ways.  It can be that perhaps you are not with the right partner, job, career, home etc. and you give up a good relationship for the opportunity to let a great one find its way into your life.

The other way, is that you bust open the doors to something deeper and more beautiful of a relationship than you had before; one with profound mutual understanding and respect, a deeper love and trust and the feeling that all of your needs will be met.

It is in taking that leap of faith that something better will come out of it and trusting the universe and your own judgment that you do not have to settle.

It’s in taking the job interview that is 1,000 miles away and taking the offer to relocate your whole entire life, to move to a new city, to have a go at it on your own, to risk it all and just trust that your big beautiful life is out there waiting for you to take the chance.  To take the great, the gorgeous, the chaotic and the charmed life that is meant to be yours, and that your soul KNOWS is out there.

And it’s out there.  Believe me, it’s out there!

It’s up to you to allow it in.  Speak your truth and watch the amazing things unfold.

Hope that inspires you.

This blog is dedicated to one of my best friends Stephanie who is opening up a brand new chapter in her life and relocating to Florida in two weeks for an amazing job and beautiful brand new life.  May it be happy, full of love, abundance and peace! So proud of you Steph, it’s just the beginning.

xoxo

Emily

November 23, 2012
Black Friday Weekend Sale!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Black Friday and happy sale weekend!

25% off Coupon code below!

Double your happiness factor this Thanksgiving all weekend long!

The effects of gratitude can be overwhelming and Thanksgiving is the time to have it. This year we have tons to be grateful for, surviving the Super Storm Sandy with our lives, maybe even our homes, and if we were really lucky, maybe even our belongings.  Others were much less fortunate and if you are reading this now, you are blessed with a computer, Internet, heat, electricity and more. You may have family who love you, are healthy, you yourself may be healthy, and have enough finances to provide these things. Maybe you have a few of these things or maybe you have much more.  Maybe this year is better than last. Maybe last year was better than this, but we are still fighting the good fight. We are still here and alive. While we may not all be billionaires (yet), we are among the very privileged to not be living on the street or living in a war zone.

Taking the time to be really grateful for all of these things, and the bountiful feast we are about to take part on for this Thanksgiving holiday. It is important for ourselves, for our family and as Americans.

Being grateful will shift your mindset when you are running low on energy and feeling stressed over the holidays.  Yes we all have tons of things to do, maybe tons of things to cook, to organize, travel arrangements to uphold and more. Perhaps your family is or will get on your nerves.

Take a five-minute break and through these times of stress remember what you are grateful for. Write it down if you must.  If you are feeling really down, and this can be done any time of year; set your alarm clock for 5 minutes and write down all that you are grateful for.  You can read this right? You can see, you can hear, you can smell, your arms and legs may or may not be functioning, you may or may not be in full health. You have a roof over your head, you have a lot of things to write down on your list. If you are alive, celebrate that. Continue your list until the 5 minutes are up, read it through and this is scientifically guaranteed to boost your happiness quotient.  After that share some smiles to strangers or lend a helping hand.

Although Thanksgiving is the time to be grateful, we should remember to be grateful all year round. Get yourself or someone else a Gratitude Notebook. Decide that in this notebook you will only write positive things, affirmations, goals, dreams, what you are grateful for and your progress. Refer back to your notebook entries anytime you feel down.

“Give that which you wish to receive.” Deepak Chopra. Give love to get love, give gratitude and respect to get gratitude and respect. Give compliments and well wishes and receive it back.  If you are feeling down, help someone. Make someone else feel better. It can be as simple as sending holiday cards like these –  send gratitude to those you love and write a quick note about what they mean to you.

To share my gratitude with you for subscribing to my newsletter and for supporting my dreams and my journey, I am offering you a Thanksgiving Sale discount this weekend!

Get notebooks, holiday cards and custom illustrations all 25% off this weekend for Black Friday, Small business Saturday, Sunday and Cyber Monday get 25% off with discount code: ThanksgivingSaleWeekend2012 on www.EmilyBrickelIllustrations.com

And if you so desire, I would love it if you wrote an email back to me about what you’re grateful for and how I can serve you better!
Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope that inspires you!

Xoxo

Emily

November 21, 2012
How to survive the holiday season stress free:

Click here to get these holiday cards! www.EmilyBrickelIllustrations.com

1) Think in ADVANCE!!!! – Yes I know this whole blog post may be coming in advance – but yet Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I repeat TOMORROW. Yes that means Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are this weekend. So this blog is actually rather timely. Use these steps in advance to get you through the holiday season un-scathed and ready, willing and able to enjoy in the holiday fun!

Think about these things in advance:
Holiday gifts you will give. Now is the time to actually read your catalogues and check off some items for your holiday list. Add it to an actual list, (no a checklist in your head does not count) – I like an excel sheet. Add a budget for each person and a column for what you will get them. If you don’t know yet leave it blank. If you can get gifts for every body on your list from two or three stores only or order them online together you will save time and money on taxes from repeat trips.

Plan meals, outfits, hairstyles, makeup or what you will bring to a party in advance. Everybody knows that when you wait to the last minute you don’t serve up your best. This is generally because you don’t leave yourself enough time. I am the queen of this, well until this year since my 2012 new years resolution was to think more in advance and OH the wonders it is already providing me. I am much happier and I am more proud of myself every time I do anything even a little bit more in advance. Better still, I can give more of my best efforts. This allows you to be more creative in your projects, say holiday décor or pie baking. You can put more love into something, or actually get things out on time, say your holiday card notes. You can even wear something that you look and feel good in and maybe have a plan B outfit incase you don’t like it that day; This will make you feel soo good, instead of running out the door in a rush, not completely confident in your wardrobe decision. Remember, when you don’t feel comfortable in what you are wearing it can be completely distracting from your fun and relaxation.

Buy Holiday cards and Thank you cards in advance. This is true for birthdays and other occasions as well. I’m talking a month or so in advance. This way you get the best of all the options out there, get what you really want, have time to write them and send them out or have time to wrap your gifts in a really fun way. When the stress of the actual holiday gets here you won’t have to frantically run to Wallgreen’s to get a card making you late and frazzled. (Been there.) Check out my website for some awesome holiday card options.

2) BALANCE it out! Your diet: Ok so every year for the holiday season I waittttt for the sweet potato pie with marshmallows on top, the pumpkin pie, apple pie, any kind of pie really. A la mode? Even better. Desserts and homemade holiday pies are totally my thing. And I will get seconds. Oh. Yeah. Thirds? It will cross my mind.

Now, I definitely don’t want to gain any weight right? I ate really good all year, I worked out and want to look skinny for the holidays coming up (Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, Valentines, oh my). So what’s a girl to do? Balance it out.

The weeks before the holidays I try to eat really clean and healthy. Clean to me means only foods with one ingredient in them like: Chicken, Steak, Veggies, Fruits, Rice, Potatoes – only things that are naturally grown and 100% unprocessed. For sweets I like dried dates (they look gross but totally squash my sugar cravings) and they are only 150 calories for 3 of them. Other desserts: yogurt with no added gunk in it, with honey and berries! Yum. Snacks: bananas, apple sauce. Drinks: Water, water, water, an occasional glass of wine, tea, maybe a chai latte with coconut milk.

Take some extra days in the gym – tack on 2 extra days or 2 extra hours a week AT LEAST so you can pre-game your body to enjoy in the holiday calorie yumminess and not feel guilty or gross.

Your work: Take on some extra hours at the office, get some projects done in advance (if this is ever at all possible), and work your little butt off so during the holidays you can disconnect from technology and not feel guilty about taking your days off. Plan social media in advance but don’t forget to take lots of pictures to upload to your instagram later at night!

Your head space: If you know or think you know the day will be full of stress, take the morning to spend an extra 5 or 10 minutes in your morning meditation, take a yoga class, a walk or a nice long coffee break. Clearing your head at the start of the day will help you manage the stress and commotion later in the day. You will feel better and be able to get through any possible mishaps with a clear head and a non-defensive attitude.

Hope this helps and inspires you to get ahead of the game and enjoy the holidays this year.

**The holidays are really about family – so taking these extra steps will ensure you wont get carried away in the stress of the “packages” and material things. Your mind will be focused on the priorities.

What’s that? You don’t have time for this? Well you will have less time later on that’s for sure. As my mentor Gabrielle Bernstein says when people tell her they don’t have time to meditate, “Do you have time to feel like crap?”

No thanks! Well spoken Gabby!

Hope that inspires you!
xoxo
Emily

November 15, 2012
The Silver Lining – Clarity Is King


Illustration inspired by last weeks snow storm.

We don’t always know what we want. Heck – a lot of times we don’t know what we want, and that’s ok. However, more things get done when you actually do know what you want. Things get done faster when you know what you want and with much less stress.

Take it from me, when working with others, or especially when running your own business or building a new website (see example A: www.EmilyBrickelIllustration.com that I launched this week!) – it becomes a lot more frustrating to not be clear.

I just had this experience, although my brand spankin’ new website is still in the works – it’s “Progress, Not Perfection” and it definitely took me longer to do the parts of it that I had not gotten clarity on. It really drove the message home that Clarity is King. Some things in my life that I have been really specific on – I was able to get to the gold. Other things that I was not as clear about the specifics, took me the longer, harder and more stressful way.

In terms of your dreams, when you clearly visualize what you desire, you are more likely to get it. Why? Because you are setting the end goal up in your head; you can start to think backwards and say “Well if I want Z, then I need to do T, U, V,W,X, and Y to get to Z.” Makes sense right?

If you don’t know that you want to get to “Z”, and you just think “Ok, well it would be nice to get to the end of the alphabet” (for example’s sake), you may not know what specific steps to take or what the end of the alphabet looks like.

And there in lies the stress.

You now may blow the project out of proportion and avoid starting it, you may do X, W, and T and not realize that you should have done things in a more specific order to arrive at your goal faster.

Having clarity to figure out what you want your company or project to look like, where you want it to be, and what you want it to accomplish will get you there faster.

Now, how do you get some clarity you say? Easier said than done right?

Well here’s the fun part!!!! Go draw yourself a nice bath, grab a glass of wine, or go take a walk in nature – wait for the hurricane or nor’easter warning to pass please 😉 – and bring a pad of paper and a pen.

Dream, imagine it. Plan it out. What would you want it to be in your wildest dreams? Figure it out. No one else is going to tell you how to live your dreams, so YOU should do it incase you ever want to get there!!!!!

No dream is too big or too small, just define it and then figure out the steps to get there.

It really is as easy as that; the only hard part is actually doing it.

So are you going to stumble blindly towards your dreams or are you going to take clear control and strategically arrive there? Wooho! (I’ll choose the later thank you very much!)

Hope that inspires you!
Xoxo
Emily

November 8, 2012
Rebuild: Like a Phoenix Rising from the Ashes

Rise like a phoenix. Begin again. It’s all we can do now. In the face of devastation, we will rise above. Due to the destructive effects of Hurricane Sandy on the New York, New Jersey and surrounding states, the eastern seaboard has never seen wreckage like this.
Start over; embrace the help that is being outstretched to you. Rebuild. When faced with uncertainty and unfortunate circumstances, the only thing to do is rise from the ruins.

Maybe it’s a death, an illness, or any other type of loss. The only thing we can do in the face of disaster is face it head on. Deal with the issue at hand, grieve, feel it through, and have faith. Remember, we are only given what we can handle and from everything we experience, we gain growth and wisdom.

Some things may seem unfair but everything we experience is part of our story, to get stronger and to make us into who we are meant to be. It is to set us up for what we will fight for and defend, to fuel what we are driven to accomplish and to give back.

We need to embrace our inner strength and courage. No matter what you may think; it’s there inside of you. You can over come anything when you have the foresight to know this too shall pass.

You are a warrior.

You can do it. You will make it through. You will rise above.

Stay warm New York. Give back and help those who are in need.
Stay grateful and if you are in need, be open to receive.

Hope that inspires you!
Xoxo
Emily

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