today is the day! GIVE everything: A Quote Book For Dreamers is now available!

in competition with your facebook news feed!

the other day i mentioned to my brother the release of my new book. a sure thing for my brother to buy my book, right? nope. he told me he doesn’t have much bandwidth. my reply was, “oh no, it’s not a digital book.” then he explained what he meant, he doesn’t have much space in his head for extra stuff like my book!

i assured my brother that the book wasn’t dense, very easy to get through like my other two books. but there i was…selling my book to my very own brother! i finally told him that he can buy it and give it away to someone. in other words, don’t have to read it just buy it! :)

the reason why my brother isn’t interested in buying my book is the same reason why a lot of people won’t buy my book (or your book!)…information overload! another book? something else you want me to read? don’t i read enough when i scroll through my facebook news feed every hour? i’m already overloaded with information, no thank you.

so on the day of the official release of my book GIVE everything (thanks alice for buying it already!) i think about the tons of writers and bloggers out in the world producing information and content and then how there is little ol’ me with my little blog and books. i am completely grateful to anyone who buys my book!

the conversation with my brother reinforced the importance of never taking for granted someone buying into and supporting whatever it is that you do. we live in a choice based world, people have options! you are not the only fish in the sea. so if you are one of many how do you be successful and survive?

how to be heard in a loud world!

1. be your best

the competition is crazy fierce, and the only thing you can control in the competition is your performance. sharpen your skills, work harder, be consistent. your work will separate you from the crowd. and when people get the opportunity to choose you will be a front runner and they will hopefully choose you.

2. love what you do

love what you do because not everyone is going to love it and want it. then what? it’s okay, because the only imperative thing is that you love doing whatever it is that you do. the love that you have for your work will be the thing that propels you to your next project, time after time. and maybe next time they will love it and want it.

my heart will overflow with gratitude

while some of you all have your reasons like my brother why you are not really interested in my book i believe many of you guys will actually buy GIVE everything! and that my dear friends will make my heart overflow with gratitude. and i hope you will not only buy it but read it. there is something in the book for you if you need encouragement and focus for your dreams. right now i am all about dreams and making them happen!

for everyone who buys any of my books within the next month i will personally send you a handwritten thank you note if you contact me with your information.

GIVE everything (ISBN: 0615803644) is available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com today!

to celebrate the release of my new book my first book 30 things will be FREE on the kindle all this week until the 18th! grab it. tweet it. read it. thanks!

YAY! :)

At 101 years old, Connie was still riding her horse every day. She taught over 36,000 girls to ride at a girls summer camp over a span of 70 years. She was a huge inspiration to many people. Her health was great and her mind was sharp. I asked her what her secret to longevity was. She said, “Well Honey, you just don’t let that rocking chair take over…you get up and go even if you don’t want to.” – americancowgirl.com

i have a week off from work to celebrate thanksgiving! so excited and blessed! my students are the best though. we recently did a lesson on past, present, and future, and at the end we used a graphic organizer and the kids had to write things about their past, present, and future.

one of my students wrote THIS:

complete awesomeness. like really, what else do you need to be happy? you don’t need the past or all the possibilities of the future! you just need this moment right now, the present.
this child knows what’s up. but yeah, out of the mouth of babes.

i miss teaching kindergarten, but second graders are pretty lovely. they are aware, but still have tons of innocence left in them. they write sweet notes to me all the time and i write mini motivational/self help books/encouraging notes back to them…i think some of them really get it. and some are just left puzzled! ;)

my thanksgiving break will be busy busy busy. i have two friends coming into town for thanksgiving. before the actual holiday i plan to bury myself in the art of bookmaking. yes, i am working on a couple book projects that i am excited about! more details coming soon.

the other day i discovered that my book 30 things is on goodreads.com with a couple reviews and ratings. if you’ve read my book and is on goodreads.com i would love for you to rate it. thanks!

have a good weekend!

eleanor roosevelt said “do one thing every day that scares you.” doing a true fright fest everyday would be challenging, but i think the essence of eleanor roosevelt’s quote is that we should go face our fears.

last year when i did the teleclass it was frightening. will anyone dial in? will i say um too much? over a dozen people showed up and yes, i said um too much. but i did it, and i am thinking about doing it again.

when i spoke at my singles ministry at my church last year i asked myself why. why in the world would i do such a thing? i never claim to be a speaker, but there i was speaking about speaking God’s word into your life.

and then not too long ago my school district asked me to head up an action plan team. i said yes but i wanted to say no. i would have to plan, organize, and talk at team meetings.

frightening things for an introvert with a slight stutter. the whole public speaking thing. i prefer to do what i am doing right now, using the written word.

what eleanor roosevelt wanted us all to experience is exposure therapy.

what is exposure therapy?

exposure therapy is basically exposing yourself to the thing that causes you the most fear over and over again…until you are no longer most afraid of “the thing”.

this past summer i went to six flags in arlington, tx. and got on a ride called the texas giant. it has a 79° drop of 147 ft. that first drop was like whoa but by the end of the ride i had my hands up. my reaction to the ride had changed into something less dramatic the longer i was on, exposed to, the ride.

so what frightens you the most?

think about things that are standing between you and the great work that God has put you on this earth to do. those are the fears worth dealing with. we often allow fear to keep us out of the will of God.

here are 5 ways to help you expose yourself to your greatest fear.

1. take baby steps

last year i had started a bible study group with a handful of women. unknowingly this experience of talking about the word of God in this small group setting helped me better face the fear of speaking in front of a larger group. start small, and build up. it’s exposure nonetheless.

2. get uncomfortable

we are creatures of comfort, but you have to tell yourself that you can handle being a little uncomfortable. ford motor company has a saying of built ford tough, know that you were built human tough. push yourself out of your comfort zone. the comfort zone is a dream destroyer. it is the place where dreams go and die.

3. choose bravery

the famous quote by tony robbins says, “if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” if you always stand fearful you will always have fear. i encourage you to stand brave, and get a different result. most feelings are a choice. choose to be brave.

4. play it out

a lot of our fears are irrational. we dream up scenarios in our head that are most unlikely to happen. but you might ask, what if they do? good question. play it out, your worst case scenario. do you survive? do you end up okay? how does it all play out? more than likely you survive!

5. become curious

let curiosity outweigh your fear. kids do this all the time! kids have a strong desire to explore the world around them, even if that means dealing with a not so great consequence.

my prayer for you is that you do not allow fear to steal your hopes and dreams. the bible says that God has not given us the spirit of fear. God has given us power, love, and a sound mind (2 timothy 1:7). operate within those realms instead of fear.

for the pinners!