“Time Stops for No One” Week #18 of 52 Weeks to define:Yourself

Where has the time gone?  It is the end of August already?  Time keeps slipping away… Time stops for no one! We have all heard these and many other sayings about time. While we may feel limited by the time, is there a way to make the most of it, conscientiously and with intention?

We often think that we have all the time in the world to do everything we desire to do.  Yet we can become caught up in working so hard, determined to “get this and have that” that we find ourselves declaring “Someday, I will do this, go there, visit them, see that….”, as we limit all that is possible.  Unknowingly it is as if we want to somehow control time, ignore time or simple disconnect from it!

What is it that we can do or shift in ourselves to live each day, hour or minute more fully? Here are a few suggestions:

First, determine what your SOMEDAY is!  Recall the times you have said to yourself that “someday”.  Write those down!  For example:  write a book, secure a certain client, de-clutter your desk, take a trip, read a book, make a quilt…

Next, review your list and devote yourself to completing one significant thing each day to contribute to the completion of your SOMEDAY! It could be an entire project or a smaller piece of a project.  For example: writing a paragraph a day, researching a client’s background and culture, de-cluttering one drawer or shelf in your desk over a few days, plan and visualize the trip you will take and set the date, start the book at commit to reading a paragraph a day, take a quilting class! Even doing something small each day reminds us of the bigger picture and what we are really up to!

Imagine if you were doing or completing something enjoyable every day, outside of your business or daily routine!   It changes our perspective, our outlook and our outcomes! When we focus on those things that are truly meaningful, the results and outcomes in other areas of our lives are renewed as well.  We would certainly be living our lives more fully, with more meaning. We would actually be living instead of simply taking up space.

It is true that time stops for no one and it can never be turned back. So let’s not waste a second of it… let’s embrace it, utilize it and live it to the fullest everyday starting NOW!

What will you do with your time?

“Discover the ‘In-Common’ Factor” Week #17 of 52 Weeks to define:YOURSELF!

We have had the opportunity recently to meet and get to know some amazing people!  We, meaning JR, my husband, and I!   We  have realized that there are so many really good people out there and we have so much in-common with them!  I find that even if at first it may look like something might not work, however,  if we stay with it just a bit longer, we magically discover the “in-common” factor!

I also know that it is easy for me to be an “island” unto myself!  I sometimes think I just do not have the time to connect and then I make the time and find so much to celebrate!   I love belonging and my heart is happy when other discover the magic of connecting too!

Getting and staying connected is not only an important aspect of your business…it is powerful for your life!  Finding a community of people who you know, like and trust is the first step to connection.  Let’s face it, we all want to belong…maybe we say we don’t, however, after you have experienced connecting with people who appreciate you for who you are…you will want to stay connected!

Community is vital!  Don’t resist it ..embrace it and enjoy!  For me that looks like empowering myself to live my best life and to define myself as open to unlimited possibilities…chance meetings aren’t chance and everyone we meet is a gift to our life in one way or another.  Being in community teaches us something about ourselves!

My challenge to you this week is to get connected… waiting for someday, making excuses or making up reasons not to connect is, simply put, NOT SERVING you or anyone!  Isn’t it time to do something NEW!  I have said it before…let go of what you think it should look like and take some time to enjoy the people around you!  It isn’t always about you…YOU ACTUALLY HAVE SOMETHING TO OFFER!!!

Take time now to discover YOU…the gift you are and the gifts you have to offer the people in your life.

I INVITE YOU TO get involved with a community!  We were made to be in relationship…time to get connected now!

Kathlyn Jaramillo

BizPack & defining:WOMEN Networks

877.440.9944

“What are you looking at?”… Week #16 of 52 weeks to define:Yourself

I have been  meeting with great men and fabulous women, over the past few days, in the state of Texas.   I  am so impressed with the sense of inclusion and openness to support one another.  I am truly pleased with every meeting, every appointment and especially the new associations that I know will be life long!

There is a saying by the former Governor of Texas, Ann Richards, “I have a very strong feeling about how you lead your life.  You always look ahead, your never look back.”  This quote resonates so profoundly with me.  So many  people are looking ahead and not looking back.

As I have met women, defining themselves, all over the regions I find myself in, I am so inspired when I find those who have lived lives that, for most people, would have them throwing in the towel, giving up and blaming who ever they could for the challenges they have faced.  Quite the contrary, I have found women who are resilient, empowered and ready to adapt to and flex with whatever might come their way!

So this week as we think about defining:ourselves, let us look to the women next to us, the women in our circles, the women that we influence and the women that influence us and be reminded that examples of strength are all around us.  There are women everywhere looking ahead and not back!

How will you define:yourself as?  Always looking back?  Always wishing and hoping? OR will you be the woman who always looks ahead!

You are so brilliant, talented and lovely just as you are!  Please take this week to look ahead and go for it!  Life is short and too long for that matter, to waste another moment looking back!  Are you ready?

Let’s GO!

Thank you Texas for your love, your acceptance, your hospitality and your spirit!  I am privileged to be an honorary member of your community!

Looking AHEAD….

Kathlyn Jaramillo

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defining:WOMEN Network

877.440.9944

“Are We There Yet?”… Week #15 of 52 weeks to define:Yourself

Have you ever been on a road trip and wondered. “Are we there yet?” or “when will I get there?”.  We check the map, we calculate the miles and we roughly determine about how much longer it could be.  Some of us have navigation systems that remove the guess-work and actually tell us how long it will be before we arrive!

Living life can be like a road trip that takes us miles from where we’ve been and yet sets us on a journey where every turn can become a new adventure. We can find ourselves in the middle of the desert or at the top of a hill and still wonder, “Are we there yet?”.   Additionally, as we live out our lives, we have no map, no navigation system and no one but ourselves to define whether or not we have arrived!

Here are just a few ideas to support you on your way:

1)  Plan the best you can, follow through and be flexible!  For us to stay on course means we have a course to stay on.  So take some time to create a plan with reasonable stops along the way.  Setting a course for what we define as success can look vastly different from anyone else and that is okay!  Stay your course, maintain steady forward movement and be flexible with opportunities that may come up along the way!

2)  Trust that you are making forward progress!  I recently read this statement, “Even though you can’t physically see a tree growing, doesn’t mean it’s not.” It is the same with us and our journey.  We are progressing, however, slowly or quickly, we are always moving forward. The world keeps turning, new days dawn and beautiful sunsets remind us daily that we are always moving forward.

3)  If you are feeling stalled out, change your fuel!  Sometimes we feel stalled, stuck or stagnant.  That is the time to seek out “new fuel”!  In other words, find something that ignites your creativity, turns you on, or clears your mind!  Whether it looks like a brainstorming session or meditation or prayer or taking a nap, we are always in control of the way we show up for our business and our life.  Knowing that we are 100% responsible, allows us to be clear that we can shift our journey to create the results we desire!

So rather than asking, “Are we there yet?”, allow yourself moments on this journey to have it all!  Create time to work, to play, to enjoy the journey and to BREATHE!

Happy Travels to YOU, now and always!!

Kathlyn Jaramillo, Founder

defining:WOMEN Network

877.440.9944

“Are You Reading the Labels?”… Week #14 of 52 weeks to define:Yourself

In recent years we have been inundated with education on what it means to read and study the nutritional facts label of the foods we consume.  There are a few simple steps we take to determine if the product in the package is really what we want to use or consume.

First, we determine what is actually in the package, based on the FRONT Label!  Then we determine if it is something that we want to consume or not, by reviewing the label on the back of the packaging, sometimes in very, very small print.  Many times we simply stop at the first step, the FRONT label.  We decide right then and there, no need to explore further, this is what I want and we go for it!

Lest you start to think this is a nutritional article, let’s shift and explore how we label one another and decide right then and there, not to go further, to either go for it or reject it based on the FRONT Label!!

Whether in business or in life, we have for years, categorized people, places and things and put labels on them.  We may have at, say age 2 or 3, saw the world as an all-inclusive, loving, fun place and then at some point, we learned that there is an entire system of labeling that takes place.

We also learn that if we do not participate or perform to a certain standard, we are labeled.  Worse, we begin to label ourselves and there begins the vicious, unproductive, cycle of an endless line of judgment and dissatisfaction with others and self.

Let’s go back, for a moment to food labels.  If we had no FRONT label to support us in identifying the contents of any given package, what would we do?  We could assume we know what is in the package, we could take a guess at what is in there, we could even believe what someone else says about what is in the package and use their label.  Do any of these make sense to you?  Yet, that is what we do everyday, when we label others or ourselves with what everyone else might say or believe about them.

Without opening the package, exploring its contents and using our senses, including intuition, to determine for ourselves if this is something or someone we desire to enjoy, we are squandering magical moments of discovery.  By labeling ourselves and others we short-circuit the unlimited possibilities to love, show kindness, be open, discover, create and so much more!

How can we remove the labels and begin to decide for ourselves what we want, who we are and what we love?

1) Trust Yourself! This is YOUR life, your choices and your unlimited possibilities.  Trusting yourself, if you don’t, takes practice and that means sometimes you will choose what works and sometimes you will choose what doesn’t work.  Either way they are just choices and you can make another.

2) Sample the Unknown! There is no harm in giving things or people a try.  Small samples are easy to acquire and goes a long way to you making your own decisions about what and who you care to associate with!

3) Let it Begin with YOU! If you are ready to drop the labels, start by dropping the labels about yourself!  We have all heard the saying, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” ~Ghandi~ , and it is a courageous step we take when we are serious about dropping the patterns that are not serving us or the people we love.

Reading labels can go a long way to support us with our nutritional health.  Even then, we must trust our own judgment in making a final decision about what we will consume.  Nothing else, that I know of, comes with a label!  So don’t you think it’s time to decide for yourself and to let go of what others decided you should or shouldn’t do or believe?  When you take this stand, you will give others permission and opportunity to do the same.  That is truly defining yourself in a way that will change the world!

Kathlyn Jaramillo, Founder defining:WOMEN Network

BizPack & defining:WOMEN Networks

877.440.9944