The F.U.N. Principle™

Leap Into Your Now - Day 55 - Have you compromised your masterpiece?

As part of World Book Night, I had the opportunity to celebrate the life of Maya Angelou through her book, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". Unlike you, I had the opportunity to read this book in school, but was grateful and excited that it was being promoted for this monumental event.

World Book Night gave me the opportunity as a selected participant to give away 20 books to promote literacy and the printed word. I would be part of thousands who would distribute books in their community and it felt great. I was able to share and facilitate the book giveaway at the RailRoad Book Depot in Pittsburg, California. As part of the event, we watched an interview with Maya Angelou and she shared so many pearls of wisdom.

Yet, one thing she shared stood out to me and I wrestled with it all night. She said that she never wanted to create masterpieces so that they would get dusty on the shelf. I've read everything that she has written and I can't imagine purchasing her work and never reading it. Even in her books that are not about poetry, she paints every sentence with colorful descriptions to the point that you see her thoughts in your own mind. It has challenged me in my own writing and I'm grateful.

Yet, the word masterpiece is so strong as it relates to this challenge. Did you know that a masterpiece is considered to be an exceptionally creative piece of work that is your best? As I thought about all of the things in my life that I believed to be exceptional and creative, I also considered their current placement. Where were they and how were they being used? Could I blow dust off them or were they in the attics of my mind waiting for an eventual garage sale? If they were so great, how come they were dusty?

And then the big C-word came to mind - C-O-M-P-R-O-M-I-S-E! The reason that they were put on a shelf is because I had compromised them away. Whether I had acted on them or not pursued them to the end, the very idea that I did not see my masterpiece ideas and visions to the end spelled out compromise. And I challenge you on this day. Look back in the libraries of your own mind and write out a list of things that you have placed on hold. Even if you don't have a finished product in hand, compromise is lingering if your masterpieces are dusty!

And just because the idea didn't work with a particular person or even in a particular city, does not mean that the masterpiece is not worthy. Do not....again...do not tie a God given vision to a person and limit it to the confines of what the world offers. Wow! This is good to me! Be oh so encouraged today in getting your lists together. We are going to see this thing to the end as a group! I'll be back tomorrow to discuss what to do with a masterpiece list!

Be blessed!

Gina

Leap Into Your Now- Day 51 - Is compromise winning or losing?

Wow...I can't believe that we are already at Day 51 of this challenge. How's your assessment and confrontation of compromise going? I have found this process to be such a revelation for me and truly an indicator and red flag finder of areas that I previously compromised but maintained. When you know that you are the holder of something that you personally lessened the value in or gave up partially on, keeping it in your atmosphere can be overwhelming.

As you continue to pursue the identified prize in your life, you may find the idea of addressing any compromise in your life to be harder than you originally imagined. I had an opportunity to be "assigned" a major project by default. A couch was delivered two weeks ahead of time and I was forced to clear a junk room and go through a number of boxes at one time. I also had to give up things that I previously thought to be of value to make room for what was new. For me, my revelation was stimulated by going through boxes. Something else may trigger the process in your life, but the concept is the same.

As I looked at the contents of the boxes and the action that was needed to get them cleared, I began to feel a bit overwhelmed. Here I found myself in the process of receiving something that I really wanted, but struggling to make room for it in my life. When you are in the midst of transition and you are forced to look at past behaviors that don't match where you are heading it will require your absolute focus if you truly desire to win.

Each of the boxes I examined contained a hodge podge of items that I had either neglected or forgot about and I couldn't even remember how they got there. Some boxes were clear results of other things getting my attention. Other boxes contained items that had partial value because either things were given away or broken but something in me wanted to hold onto the value of the past.

So, as you go through your own process, I challenge you as you identify the compromise to also identify what you are holding onto whether it be in your mind or in a box in your house. Challenge the why behind it. Challenge if it fits in where you are headed. Challenge yourself to let it go. And finally, challenge yourself to forgive and move forward.

Have a wonderful Friday and keep sending me the updates about your progress through this challenge!

Be blessed!

 

Gina

Leap in your Now - Phase II - Day 37 - Compromise is not an option!

Happy Good Friday everyone! I'm so excited going into this week-end and entering into the next phase of our 90 day challenge. For the first phase, we focused on not putting things off and it feels good to have resolve in the atmosphere. Addressing and assigning expiration dates for clutter in our lives was critical for the first phase and I'm so glad that you joined me.

This next phase will focus on living with a winner's mindset. I am going to challenge you daily to do this. A winner's mindset is not limited to a particular event or day. No matter what we face, there ought to be a resolve from the inside out that echoes a champion. Yet, I am clear that there are many reasons why the powerful voice is silent...and one of them is due to the C-word....compromise. I am going to repeat this key word until the end of April in every update that I share.

Why? Because I know that many times we give away the completeness of our ultimate prize because we compromise along the way. There is no sense in pursuing greatness and settling with mediocrity. I understand that the world's system would have you believe that compromise is necessary to get along with people or to remain in a place of agreement. Yet, the question that I have for you is..."With all that compromising that you have done along the way....are you really getting along with everyone and are you in agreement?" I'm sure many of you were already mouthing the word "NO".

When you are clear about the ultimate prize for your destiny, you keep it in your radar and vision at all times. You protect it as if your life depended on it. If you were running a race with the ultimate goal of winning first place and found yourself in the lead, why on earth would you start walking at the last stretch so that everyone can pass you up? The image of giving up should be what you see in your mind when find yourself compromising. Until the end of April, your job will be to seriously look at your life goal's and fight off compromise at every angle. So as you prepare yourself for this next journey, write down today's challenge and place it in a visible place that you look at daily to remind you that, "Compromise is not an option".

Have a great week-end!

 

Gina

Leap Into Your Now - Day 29 - I can still see my YES!

Wow....I can't believe that we are approaching a month of not putting it off. This month has not come without challenges. Yet, I believe that I am closer than I have ever been to major breakthroughs in my life. Today, I received a "no" that I believed would be a "yes". As I walked down the hallway, I asked God, why "no" to this? I really needed this opportunity. Before I could sit down, I heard the words, "For every no that you have received, I have a Yes".

I have been challenged by many people NOT let no's stop me from being successful. No's tend to show up right in the middle of your process as inconvenient stop signs to deter you from progressing forward. Some no's have caused me to digress, delay, and give up. Yet, at this point in life and even in the midst of this challenge, I am determined to not let a no come between me and my yes. I am also encouraged to know that I have an ultimate prize that I seek. This is why a little no can't possibly be bigger than my greater yes. Do you know the size of your yes? I can hear the commercial that says, "Do you know your number?"

I contend if you know the size and can see your greater yes than you will refuse to allow these little no's to stop you another day. So, even if a stop sign...a small no...or even a large no shows up in your day, I challenge you to look that at that no and confidently say...."I can still see my yes" - Be encouraged - Gina

Leap Into Your Now - Day 23 - Friday Reminder

Wow....what a week! This not putting if off process has truly challenged me to maximize my days. This week was so busy that I needed a day to recap about my week...and what a perfect day.

On day 23, I can attest that moving forward in life without your usual safety nets, shifts you to a place called absolute faith. In this place, I'm clear about the fact that I can't rely on old self-destructing mechanisms that landed me here in the first place. It has been said that it takes the average person 30 days to form or break a habit and we are just week away. I decided in this process that I would be retraining myself to see the larger goal for my life...the prize. I contend that many people don't finish their ultimate goal because they get sidetracked with the options of 2nd and 3rd place. I don't know about you, but I am too far in and have come too far in life to settle...and yes, I want the ultimate prize.

The prize that I seek while I press has become a beacon light in my mind. When people would ask me about my day, I used to say, "Girl, you know I'm pressing". When in fact, I was barely keeping it all together because I was managing the impact of putting things off while attempting to move forward. Can you say impossible?

When you press, it is not a process of holding it all together by a thread with a hope and half a prayer that a strong wind won't come to knock you completely down. When you press, you pursue with deliberate action and skill. When you press, you do whatever it takes and shaking off any unnecessary weights is truly part of that process. It takes a mind of an athlete....a competitor...someone with a winner's mindset.

That is what these 23 days have been about. When I decided that I would address and resolve things that I put off, I signed an invisible contract with my life to get back in the race towards my own destiny.

So today, just as I was reminded, I'll gladly remind you. You have everything you need to be successful, just look into your own hands and stay in the race!

Have a great week-end!

 

Gina

Leap Into Your Now Challenge - Day 19- Don't Circumvent Your Process

As I prepared for my day this morning, I clearly heard the words spoken to me – Don’t Circumvent Your Process. The words were so clear in my hearing that I literally looked to my left and right to see if there was someone else in the room with me.

I even took the time to look up the word on Encarta Dictionary and one of the definitions stood out to me – “To find a way of avoiding restrictions imposed by a rule or law without actually breaking it”. I impulsively mouthed the words “wow”. Had I really tried to straddle the fence in my own process?

When I consider the journey that I am on of not putting things off in my life, it seems unreasonable that I would intentionally incorporate another layer of avoidance in my process to resolve avoidance. After all, if something is difficult to resolve, doesn’t it seem logical to find an easier way to get it done? You know, the common practice of working smarter not harder?

Yet, I think that circumventing is much deeper than finding an easier way. Circumventing has more to do with trying to do things your way instead of doing what is right. It has more to do with seeing what you can get away with instead of seeing what you can accomplish. It has more to do with addressing only the parts that you are willing to face in the moment instead of facing all issues no matter what order they show up on your list and life and fully believing that they will be resolved. Fully believing has to do with exercising complete and total faith no matter what your mind says or how impossible the circumstance seems. There…I said it and will admit that for some of the issues on my list, I had not fully believed.

As I take another look at my own list, I challenge you to do the same. I also challenge you to question if you have total faith that you will accomplish the things you have set to complete and do something about the response you receive. I believe that your response will require total faith. Even whispering throughout the day - Lord, help my unbelief. For if you are really facing issues that you’ve feared and avoided in your life, you will have to have total faith in God. Some of you need a miracle for the items on your list and your unbelief has shown up as a stop sign…until now. You are equipped to remove the stop signs off your list by the power of your belief.

Be encouraged today! And remember.....Every step you take forward is a leap into your now!

Gina

Leap Into Your Now Challenge - Day 15 - Sometimes Less is More

As you end your week, I challenge you to celebrate the triumphs you've this week towards addressing and resolving delays on your list. Even if you only accomplished one thing this week, you are closer to meeting your goals than before. When you are able to see less of what previously stimulated stress in your life or caused you to feel stuck, you can shift into a place called more.

When you get to a point where you can look at things that previously bogged and consumed you from a victorious mindset, you will no longer be intimidated or fearful about moving forward. It may have been a tough week for you, but I encourage you to enjoy the fact that every step you make transitions you forward and expands your territory.

Be blessed and encouraged!

Gina

Leap Into Your Now - Day 14 - Its More than a list!

As I was reviewing my list of remaining items that I've put off, a memory of an experience with a former manager flashed across my mind. In a previous job, I worked on an account that had so many task items. If you are anything like me, seeing a list that has over 100 to do items can be overwhelming. No matter how hard I worked on the list, it just seemed as if more items would appear daily. Finally, I decided that I had enough, so I came in for a few week-ends to get things done. I mean, I cranked through that list like it was no body's business.

After a few weeks, I was able to cut the list down to half of it's size and I met with my manager. To my surprise, she wasn't happy. When she told me, my mouth dropped open in unbelief. I felt unappreciated and deflated. Why had she not acknowledged all my efforts? Yet, I learned something that I have never forgotten when she simply stated, "Gina, it's not about the list. It's about you. It's about your mindset and thought process as you are completing the list. It's also about the relationships that you are establishing along the way. Take your focus off the individual tasks and look at the bigger picture. If you approach it from a task driven mindset, you will become overwhelmed each time it grows".

I was completely blown away. Yet, her words pierced my inner man just as I'm challenging your inner man right now. Don't get sidetracked by the individual tasks of each of the items that you have put off. Your destiny is so much bigger than that. These issues or circumstances are like a speck on a wall in comparison. You can get through these and it may take more than a day. It may take weeks, but your progress is forward. You leap with every step. Don't allow yourself to believe otherwise. Instead, give yourself permission to learn from and throughout the process so that you don't find yourself back here. When you discipline yourself in this way, you will develop a principle that will stay with you for a lifetime.

Be encouraged!

Gina

Leap Into Your Now Challenge - Day 12 - Living Past Regrets

As you begin your week and address this month's task of "Not Putting it Off", you may find yourself looking at your list with a regretful eye. When you first leaped into this challenge, there may have been things that you accomplished that were immediately resolved and it brought about such an energy and refreshing that you probably wondered why it took you so long to get them done. Yet, I'm also personally aware that there are certain things on your list that are not so easily crossed off because they may be tied to other issues that are more challenging to process. It's called the "R" word - REGRET.

Regret in the sense that there may be things you wish clicking your heels three times would resolve. These things have lingered because you have let “them” go on far too long, “stayed” too long, or even avoided too long. Still struggling to follow me? Let me make it plain.

Just maybe certain items on your list include letting your letting your bills go unpaid too long and now the creditors are calling constantly and you feel as if you don't know what to do because you have no money to pay them. On the other hand, maybe the regret is that you put off having what you perceived at the time as a "difficult" or "confrontational" conversation with someone and "time" hasn't healed old wounds. You just can't seem to pick up the phone because it just feels...awkward. What do you really say to someone that you put off for two years? Alternatively, maybe your cluttered garage contains boxes of things you can't let go or even identify because you let them pile up. Now you feel as if you can't ask for help because you're vulnerable about others judging you.

Whatever stands out as a regret on your list, it's now time that you learn to live past it. Someone once said that if you want to eat an elephant, take one bite at a time. Those issues may be the elephant in the main room of your life, but they can be overcome. Break down each issue into components called emotions, truth, and outcomes.

• Emotions in this case would be the process of identifying how you feel about the issue and target where those emotions are coming from and why. You may learn in this process that your feelings are misplaced or stem from some other traumatic experience in your life that has nothing to do with the issue at all. Yet, the issue triggered the response that you made and rather than dealing with it you avoided it altogether.

• Truth would be the process of sorting out what is your truth and assessing if there is a variable that you created in your mind to what is actual "truth". Sometimes, we just have the wrong perception about things near and dear to our hearts because of own limited mindset. If you want to live past the regret, you have to be willing to face the actual truth and admit to when you are wrong to yourself and those that are impacted.

• Finally, come to an agreement with an outcome for resolution. That thing on your list has harbored and festered for too long. Target a desired outcome not based on your being right, but as my friend Kelsi says, "being
  righteous".

My entire point of this month's challenge was to challenge not only myself but also everyone around me to live life and that life more abundantly. We can't do that fully when we allow things to linger or when we stay in places far too long. We can't live past regrets when we continue to live in them. So today may be about modifying your list or breaking down your list into multiple steps. No matter what, please remember that every step you make is actually a leap closer to your goal.

Be encouraged!

Gina

 

Leap Into Your Now Challege - Day 9 - There is still time to contribute to this week.

I know its Friday and you are probably thinking that it might be too late to get things done. Yet, Friday is the perfect day to wrap up things you've been working on or to set-up your Monday to be more productive. Scan your list and see if there are any quick calls you can make. Or perhaps there are a few emails that you can send. Use this day to re-organize, put things away, and give yourself permission to breathe a little.

Friday is also the time to wind projects down, live with more freedom, wear jeans to work...you get the idea. So even in this time, a time where your mind is preparing for the week-end, there is still time to contribute to you.

Assess what you've been able to accomplish this week and pat yourself on the back. Even if it was only one thing, it was one thing more than you completed before taking this challenge.

Happy Friday and have a great week-end!