This year, I took on two of the biggest hurdles that stand in our way when it comes to a life of peace and happiness. I chose to incorporate healthy eating and exercise into my busy and sugar-filled life and gain back control of my finances, which meant confronting the monster in the closet: my school loans. Now, this is not to say that diet, exercise, and money are the answers to peace and happiness, but they are many of the goals we lay before us in pursuit of the two.
 
Most goals, year after year, are connected to health in both body and finances.  What I have found on my journey is that the two are strongly connected in the sense that the same vehicle leads to both. The big "D" word. No. Not determination, although that is often what begins the journey. But it is DISCIPLINE that ensures you stay on the journey long enough to see the results. 
 
In creating and managing a unique budget every single month, I have become empowered to spend each dollar wisely. I know where EVERY dollar goes and I plan for events in advanced. If I know there is a birthday dinner later in the month, money is set-aside specifically for that. If an invite to the nail salon pops up midweek and I know this is not in the budget, I say no! The same is true for my diet. I CAN eat a donut! I CAN have a slice of pizza. I CAN have a couple of beers with friends. But it needs to be planned! And more importantly, I need to be disciplined enough to know when I can and can't afford something, whether it is a new shirt or a cheeseburger. It is as simple as that!
 
But is it?
 
We live in a society that is accustomed to instant gratification and we have convinced ourselves that we no longer have control. We want so bad to lose weight but have accepted the idea that our body is different. What we refuse to acknowledge is that our diet and lack of mobility is also very different. We want financial freedom, but we convince ourselves that only people born into money get to experience that. Meanwhile, we drive better cars and take more vacations than millionaires! And the reason being is that IT IS HARD!
 
It is hard to put off the sweets until Friday. It is hard to save 10 years for the car of your dreams. It is hard to wait! And we are undisciplined! We are used to getting what we want, when we want it. But the cost is that we are unhappy. Peace and contentment is what we really want, but we refuse to be patient enough to wait for it. 
 
So I am asking you to discipline yourself. And give yourself time to change your habits. Just like it takes time and patience to discipline a child or a puppy, know that you will fail. But keep reminding yourself that you are simply undisciplined, and that your failure will become less frequent until your new way of living is natural. And find an accountability partner to help you through. Because, again, it is hard! And the hard things are always easier to overcome with a friend encouraging you along the way. 
 
You CAN learn discipline. And it WILL change your life. 

A theme I have come across more recently in my life is the power of intentionality. Being purposeful and conscious of the actions you take each day. Too many times we allow days to pass without being present. Without being purposeful and intentional. And that is why we find ourselves no closer to the lives we dream of someday having. 
 
Intentionality is the key to success in almost anything you seek to accomplish. Success does not happen by accident. On my journey towards fulfilling my dreams of financial freedom, growing my own business, freeing up my time for my family, and living a life I love, I have found that intentionality is what brings progress. In my busy day I must physically create a time block where my focus is my dream. I must write down a goal, and then create a plan to best achieve that goal within a reasonable but detailed timeframe.
 
Another dream of mine is to be physically fit and active so that I can participate in my son's baseball practices or chase him at the park. This means that I must consciously choose what I will eat and when I will exercise. It is no different from the expectations that are placed on us by our employers.
 
We must stop hoping that opportunity knocks on the door. Instead we must seek opportunity, and if none is found, we must create opportunity. Again, intentionality is key! It is time that we live on purpose. That we add action to our dreams. That we adopt intentionality in all we do. 
 
As a challenge to those who read this blog, I am urging you to not only adopt intentionality, but to do it when you feel the most inconvenienced. Do it on the weekend. I have found that people tend to fall off the wagon during the weekend because there is less of a routine. Weekends are when healthy eating stops, days begin later, time ceases to exist for exercise, and hours disappear when we need them most. I will be posting every Friday evening to motivate YOU to have a weekend of INTENTIONALITY. Let's stop waiting for Monday to make changes. Our lives are too important. I hope you will join me. It is time we start living each day on PURPOSE. 

I learned within the last few months how important it is to own your stuff. In fact, important is not the right word. It is downright empowering! 
 
For years, I have blamed my failures and bad judgment on people, places, circumstances, and anything else I could think of that did not include myself. My finger naturally pointed outward. And as long as I could place blame, I did not have to confront my problems and resolve them myself. After all, it would be unfair to solve a problem or sacrifice for something that had little or nothing to do with me. 
 
And then it happened....
 
I was listening to a radio personality who often yells at his listeners about playing the victim. "You are not the victim!", he says. At first I simply changed the channel. He obviously knew nothing about my story and therefore his words were irrelevant. But I eventually came back and continued to listen. And as I listened I realized that I WAS responsible for many of the bad decisions I had made. Although I could always find some sort of way to justify my actions, they were still MY actions and I had to own them. And the minute I came to this realization I felt liberated. Because the person I had been waiting for to fix my problems had arrived. I was the only person who could change my circumstance. And so that is what I have been doing since. 
 
Regardless of where your problems began, at some point we must take ownership of our roles, our lives, and our futures. We must choose to accept the past and rework our present so that our future is ours.
 
Owning your mistakes, however minor they may be in the grand scheme of things, is the first step to living the life of your dreams.  

Do you ever feel as if life's objective is to knock you to the ground and keep you there?
 
So often I hear people around me feeling like they can't catch a break. The year they lose their job is the year their dog dies, their boyfriend leaves, their engine blows, the tree falls on their house.... you get the picture.
 
Life can be hard and sometimes it is hard day after day after day. Snowmageddon is no match for this particular season. And so this is when I believe the movie that is your life develops into the powerful story you'll tell for decades. This is where your inner heroine is born.

Many of us enjoy watching movies or reading stories of other successful women. Women who persevered through incredible hardships and made it to the top. We hear the stories of women like J.K. Rowling, Oprah Winfrey, and Kelly Clarkson and we often think, "She is so lucky." "Oh, what I would give to be her."  Well guess what, you are her! J.K. Rowling was a single mother on the verge of homelessness. "Harry Potter" was turned down by several publishers before it became successful. Oprah Winfrey was demoted from an anchor position and told she would not be successful. Kelly Clarkson's dad left her when she was a child and she grew up in poverty. And right now you are going through the difficult chapters of your story. The chapters that people will read or watch with jaws dropped thinking, "how did she do it?" And they will find inspiration as they see you become the heroine who, against all odds, wins in the end!
 
So while these chapters are difficult and your story feels as though it will end in tragedy, remember that a heroine is courageous because she does not give up when times are tough.

​She perseveres and fights until she wins.