There’s something amazing about being able to live one more year.
Regardless of whether last year was great for you or not, what we can ALL agree on is that this year, 2019 CAN be a better year than last year.
And if you’re already starting to doubt that it CAN be a better year, watch it! 😉
How great 2019 is, LARGELY depends on your attitude, so keep it in check.
My Top 2018 Lessons
A lot of people have published their review of 2018 and shared their New Year’s resolutions for 2019. I want to go beyond that.
Today, I want to share with you 5 lessons that I learned in 2018 that can help YOU squeeze out the most goodness in 2019. To make it more positive. And to allow you to have the most amount of joy.
Lesson 1: Despite The Challenges You Made It To The End Of Last Year And The Beginning Of The New Year
That ☝️ in and of itself is a blessing.
We can simply start from that frame of mind, and suddenly, things become more positive.
Last year may or may not have been the perfect year, but you’re here. Alive. Today. In a country, with internet, on a device that you were able to purchase because of everything that you have to contribute to the world via your talents and skills. Or if you were gifted your device, you had/have someone in your life who was this generous or who has a good job that allows you to have a device to read this blog on.
If you haven’t tried Ebates, you’re in for a very special treat. Can I be super honest with you? I had heard several people raving about
Can I be super honest with you? Several years ago, I had heard several people raving about Ebates , but I didn’t sign up. It kept on pushing this task off, thinking that this wasn’t as cool of a plugin as people said it was.
But boy, was I wrong! And it potentially cost me hundreds of dollars as a result of not having signed up earlier.
Why do I say this?
Because within days of signing up, I had earned about $25.56 dollars cash back, given that I had made a few more purchases than usual (you’ll see some of these purchases below).
Are you the sentimental type who still has the gelato spoon they gave you when you purchased a gelato in Italy? Or perhaps the personal notes your elementary school bestie gave you? Or maybe, you have boxes of brochures, receipts and mementos from your travels?
I do.
That’s the beauty and the curse of being a sentimental person. You pretty much see the value in e-ve-ry-thing.
And what does this lead to?
Clutter, my friend. Lots and lots of clutter.
Sadly, clutter has become sooooo much a part of me that…there’s me and there’s my clutter. Two for the price of one.
And sadly, that’s the way my house was growing up. Filled with stuff.
That’s why today, I’ll be sharing a resource for those of you, who like me, have needed help with clutter and for those of you already familiar with the method, I’m inviting you to participate in the The Celebrating Your Success With the KonMari Method Tag.
One of the tools that has truly helped me start this 2015 with the most momentum, energy, enthusiasm, focus and alignment EVER is Leonie Dawson’s 2015 Create Your Shining Year Workbook.
If you haven’t heard of it, or even if you have heard of it and have never used it, you’re in for a great treat!!! 🙂
Who is Leonie Dawson?
Leonie Dawson is a mentor, author, visual artist and dedicated wife and mother. She is an inspiration to her 50K+ subscribers. Her yearly workbooks have been annual bestsellers for the last half decade.
The 2015 Create Your Shining Year workbook is an incredibly popular and useful tool to increase the probability of making your year highly productive and impactful by helping you plan it out.
Over the last six years, thousands of women have used this workbook with the most amazing results.
When you place your order, you’ll also get a colorful free digital calendar that you can print out and that will allow you to have monthly check-ins with yourself to make sure that you’re on track for reaching your goals.
The workbook itself consists of beautiful and colorful pages that explain the exercises briefly and in an inspirational manner and which are followed by worksheets for you to fill out.
What Makes This Workbook Special?
You know the saying that says that you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover?
Well, in this case, you should judge it by its cover.
If you think this workbook is beautiful and magnetic on the outside, wait until you see it on the inside. It’s gorgeous! There are literally splashes of color everywhere….but it doesn’t detract from your ability to focus.
On the contrary, your creativity is heightened no matter how “anti-planners” or anti-calendars you are.
And using a plain pencil or pen to write on this beauty seems almost like counterproductive. I mean you couuuuld use those utensils, but in my case, I found that colored markers were the best thing that I could use to enhance the beauty of the workbook itself.
They Are More Than Just A Workbook
It may seem like I’m just trying to convince you to buy one, but really, I’m just trying to convince you to give yourself the gift of experiencing it. Not for my sake or benefit, but for yours.
To me, this workbook is more than just a workbook.
It’s a piece of my life…. it’s where my life, my dreams and my goals are plastered.
It’s my to-do list for my life.
It’s where the seeds are planted.
And these workbooks are so special that I plan on collecting them like if they’re diaries… because I’d like to look back one day, and say to myself “wow, you’ve really come a long way!”
And I have.
And you can too… especially when you honor your inner voice.
The Workbook Isn’t Special Just For Me
In the internet marketing world, having 50,000 subscribers is amazing, but having 80% of those subscribers and/or followers buy this workbook (because after all not everybody who is her subscriber buys and not all of her buyers subscribe), is mind—blowing. Yep the “poooof!” kind of mindblowing.
And honestly, 40,000 workbook users can’t be wrong.
Is It Normal To Feel Hesitant About Buying This 2015 Workbook?
It is very normal to feel hesitant.
As a matter of fact, I have a confession to make. I’ve been a Leonie Dawson subscriber for a couple of years but I had never purchased anything from her.
The freebies that I had gotten from her on her site were great, but I still didn’t take the plunge.
I had seen and heard rave reviews about this workbook.
And I still hesitated.
It wasn’t until 2014 was winding down, that I noticed that I really needed to spark some love into 2015.
And after doing some research I decided to buy it.
It wasn’t because of anything that anybody said in particular, because you’ll find both support and lack of support for Leonie and her work out there, but it was because I actually felt like I needed to tune into myself in a unique way.
Do you feel like that?
If so, honor that feeling.
Because in my case, purchasing this workbook was definitely one of the top 5 purchases that I made last year.
And the best thing is that this gift, which I gave to myself as an early Christmas gift, is a gift that will keep on giving both in 2015 and for the rest of my life.
Because planning or failing to plan impacts your entire life.
What Type Of Workbooks Are There?
Before we get into what type of workbooks there are, let me ask you:
What do you want help with?
Your life in general?
OR
Your business?
OR
Both your life and your business?
There are two formats of the workbook that you can get: either digital or printed.
But there are more choices than that. Let’s explore what they are and what their cost is.
You can get the digital version to help you improve both your business and your life for $17.90 (By ordering this combined version of life and business you save 10%, which is a $2.00 savings). You’ll be able to download it to your computer and print and start working on it.
Guess what? If you buy the printed version, you get 2 bonuses!!!:
Bonus Foldout A2 full color 2015 wall planner
Free access to Life + Biz digital workbooks as a bonus to start working on right away (which is an extra bonus this year)
What Does The Cost Break Down To?
Before you think that you don’t need an extra and expensive workbook or planner when you could just use any generic calendar or planner that isn’t necessarily focusing on moving your business and life forward, let me do the math for you:
You can buy them directly from Leonie’s website by visiting this page.
Leonie has informed us through a January 2015 newsletter that the workbooks have been flying off the shelf this month (January 2015).
And since she had shared when they were first available for sale that they were selling faster than they had in prior years, I was sure to grab mine as soon as I decided to treat myself to one.
Just so you know, Leonie did sell her workbooks for prior years on Amazon and her site, but this year, she is only selling her 2015 workbook on her site.
Insider Tips About The Digital Version
If you’re planning on buying a digital version so that you can type in your answers and then print out your pages on your mobile device or on your computer, that’s great, but I would recommend that you price the cost of printing out your pages first.
If money is not an issue for you, then you don’t have to worry about doing this.
However, if you’re planning on printing yours at home, let me tell you that the pages inside are in bright colors. You can always print them in black and white, but honestly, having the pages in color adds a lot to the experience. It makes filling up the workbook more inviting and more uplifting. The downside to printing in color, as you know, is that it can be more expensive.
Just so that you know how to factor in the price of ink let me share that the:
If you’re not going to print these pages at home using your own ink, I HIGHLY recommend requesting a pricing quote at your local print shop by providing them with the total number of pages you’re looking to print and whether these will be in color or not.
Why?
As strange as it seems, in my area, by requesting a quote, I found out that it was less expensive for me to buy the actual printed workbook than to print the workbook at my local print shop.
The benefit of buying a digital ebooks (or getting them for free this year) is that you can print any of the pages that speak to you the most and put them up on the wall or even frame them. Yes, they’re THAT pretty! =) Most importantly, they invite you to write things that you’ll want to revisit.
The digital version has a caveat that I’d like for you to be aware of and that is some people may experience issues in being able to type in their information and have it saved even after they click save. But it may work for you.
Besides, even if it doesn’t, you can either print out all the pages and fill them out by hand, OR you can fill out the pages digitally and immediately print them out OR you can use the mobile apps that Leonie recommends which are:
Adobe Reader (which, by the way, you will also need in order to try to fill out your workbook on your computer)
Good Reader
Notability
Notes Plus
As a bonus, let me just say that I recommend that you try out NoteShelf. It’s my favorite app for annotating, which means writing on the PDF, highlighting it, and even adding pictures to whatever it is that you want to remember via a mobile device.
If you use a mobile device to fill out your workbook digitally, you can then send it to yourself as an email attachment, download it onto your computer and then print it out, whether at home, or at a print shop, with your OWN writing on it. How cool is that?!
I was so happy that I had ordered the Leonie Dawson workbook, that it made me happy just thinking about the day that it would arrive.
When I received it, I was just pleased with the packaging, the condition and seeing the product live.
Other than the fact that I would prefer the cover to be thicker and sturdier, it was love at first sight.
The workbook is truly beautiful.
How I Filled It Out
I started filling the workbook out after Christmas, when things had settled down a bit.
The pages that I thought were THE most important to accomplish prior to the last day of the year were the 2014 Closing Ceremony workbook pages, which invite you to release the previous year with love and gratitude.
But then again, it’s never too late to reflect on the past to improve the odds of a more glorious present.
Filling out this workbook is a great activity that you can do with family member or friend on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
Or alone. It’s so refreshing. And that’s what I like to do. I like to fill it out when I’m alone, because when I’m doing something as enjoyable as this, I certainly don’t want to be distracted.
My #1 Tip For Filling Out The Leonie Dawson Workbooks
My #1 tip for filling these workbooks out is to enjoy the process.
If we don’t enjoy dreaming about, envisioning and planning out how we’ll achieve our goals— what makes us think that we’ll LOVE accomplishing them?
We might be able to do them, most likely, we won’t love the process fully.
My Approach To Completing The Workbook
Since I have limited alone time, which is when I feel the most creative, I actually have the workbook on my desk open to the page where I left off… with my colorful markers next to it, so I can work on it:
Whenever my computer is slow
When I’m starting up or shutting down my computer
When I need to take a break
When I need to gain more clarity
When I want to have fun
Even though I’d like to sit down and fill it all out, in a way, filling out little by little is like enjoying a decadent dessert… one bite at a time.
The #1 Objection You Need To Get Over
If you’re a go-getter the #1 objection you’ll have is that you’ll think that you don’t have time to plan.
That’s not the case because usually, when you don’t plan you waste more time trying things out that don’t work.
You could have actually saved yourself some time by actually thinking about what you want to achieve ESPECIALLY if you’re a go-getter and you have a bajillion things that you do, that you want to do and that you need to do.
Surely, you can watch or read 1 less show, movie, YouTube video or social media post.
How Long Does Filling Out Each Page Take?
Each page takes roughly 5 minutes, it depends on how willing you are to listen to your intuition (heart and inner voice) and just letting that voice express itself.
Plus, as Leonie says, if something about an activity doesn’t speak to you, you can choose not to do it. It’s no big deal.
Me? I’ve been filling every page out… and I’m still making great progress.
What Have I Learned From The Workbook So Far?
I have confirmed what I propose on my Love and Treasure website and that is, the importance of asking the right questions that make you reflect on your life, so that you can feel in control of it.
By planning, I get to increase ALL of my core desire feelings and my feeling of satisfaction.
Taking the time to reflect on my life in 2014 and what I envision for 2015 is absolutely useful. It allows me to live more consciously.
4. Looking at the workbook makes the creative part of my brain light up.
5. I love analyzing and reflecting and the workbook fuels my need for introspection.
6. I use the colorful markers I bought at Erin Condren to ensure that my writing is bright on the page, but that my writing doesn’t go through the page.
However, I recently came across these erasable pens that I might switch to. Why?
They’re colorful
If you’ve used erasable pens many moons ago, you’ll love these because they actually do erase completely
They’re retractable, so you can just write without worrying about putting the cap back on
YOU, of course, as long as you have an open-mind to artsy. You may thiiiiink that you’re really linear and systematic, but trust me when I say that that may be one of your issues that prevents you from moving forward.
Your sister
Your best friend
Your mom and YOU, if you’re a mom
Artsy people in your life
Entrepreneurs (which hopefully includes you)
Friends who have birthdays in October, November, December and January…. especially those in December (it must be tough having a birthday that month…and a little extra something as nice as this wouldn’t hurt). I personally know A LOT of people who have a birthday in January.
In sum, it’s for people who have visions and dreams they’d like to achieve
As much as I love it, I have actually had to put a break on myself when sharing this workbook with others.
It’s sad to say that some people may be turned off by the allusions to spirituality. They’re gorgeous, though!! Besides, it’s just an image that we’re talking about!
So, for that reason, the people whom I wouldn’t recommend this workbook for are:
people that you know who are “too” religious
people that you have a gut feeling could be offended, or worse yet, ignore this workbook completely if you gifted them one
I wrote an article about the lame misunderstandings that we run into when it comes to religion and spirituality, when in reality, we should be focusing on love.
I purchased the book in early December to ensure that I had enough time to write in it before 2014 ended as a way of putting a mental end to that wonderful year.
I highly recommend that you sign up to Leonie Dawson’s newsletter so that you are the first to know about when the 2016 Workbook comes out. You can sign up to Leonie’s newsletter by clicking here.
My Favorite Sections Of The Workbook
One of my favorite sections in the book starts off on page 2. Why so early in the book? For 2 reasons:
Leonie dedicates the book to “you” and she also says that:
A portion of the profits from this workbook will go to a range of charities that support the world to become an even better place.” -Leonie Dawson
She adds:
Fantastic years don’t happen by chance however… we need to vision it, dream it, map it out, plan it and MAKE IT HAPPEN” -Leonie Dawson
Here are some of my favorite pages from the Life and Business Printed Workbook:
I enjoyed the 2014 Closing Ceremony greatly because it was nice to take inventory of the wonderful things I accomplished in order to rev up 2015
I especially liked pg. 21 where I got to put pictures of what I’m grateful for…which of course included my family
I like pg. 25 that asks about what I want to feel and experience in 2015 because it shifts your mind from a “do” mentality to an “enjoy” mentality
pg. 28– things that I’ll do when everything sucks (I hope I don’t need to reference this page often)
pg. 29- Affirmations that I can turn to
pg. 30- Ritual Days that invite me schedule in things that I love into my calendar (love that!)
pg. 31- What I Want To Gift Myself This Year (and in my case it wasn’t things, but feelings)
pg. 31 (on this same page) what I’d like to release this year (It’s an insightful exercise that helps you bring up the lame stories you tell yourself year after year and that just get in the way of expanding the radiance you can give.
pg. 37-40 100 Things To Do where you write down 100 things you’d like to do whether they are big or small (it’s easy to fill this list out)
pg. 42- My Mottos– 5 mottos (how powerful short phrases can be)
pg. 43 10 Things To Celebrate Yourself For (you don’t often get encouraged to celebrate yourself and this is a perfect excuse to applaud yourself for all that you are and all that you do).
pg. 51 Amazing Habits that you’ll incorporate as much as possible into your day but won’t penalize yourself if you don’t… because even a handful of these habits can move you forward
I’m still working through the workbook. I’m sure I’ll come across more valuable activities that I love.
So check it out! Even if you decide that it’s not for your (which I highly, highly, highly doubt) I can assure you that there will be someone in your life that would LOVE and treasure it.
Now It’s Your Turn
Have you used these Create Your Shining Year workbooks?
What are your thoughts on them?
What results have you gotten?
Leave your comments below! And after you do, grab a copy for someone who you think needs to see life on the bright side! 😉
Have you ever felt stuck in deciding what you want in life?
Have you ever struggled to complete your goals?
Are you secretly feeling ‘blah’ about having reached your goals because all you care about is that you got to check off that item from your to do list? Do you say to yourself, “it’s done” and it’s all that matters?
If you answered yes to all of the questions above, then you definitely know that in order to live a more fulfilled life, you need to do more than just cross off items on your to-do list.
You need to LIVE. Truly live.
Enjoying the process each day.
My friend DanielleLaPorte is an author of acclaimed books such as The Firestarter Sessions and The Desire Map, motivational speaker and blogger whom I’ve admired greatly for the last 2 years.
I love the truths she shares and how she shares them.
Her style is a combination of “deep” and “to the point.”
If there is anybody who has a good aim to the heart and soul, like a cupid almost, it’s Danielle.
You Can Aim For Peoples’ Hearts And Souls, Too
Danielle LaPorte will be launching The Desire Map Licensing Program, which is a ready-made business for people looking to create an income stream or supplement their income stream while TRULY making a difference in other people’s lives on January 7, 2015.
And you can learn what The Desire Map is all about and apply it to your own life… and once you know the impact that it makes, you will want to share it.
You don’t need any prior knowledge or certification to participate and or start this business for sharing good in the world.
You can be a Desire Map facilitator, a Desire Map coach… or simply be the friend who wants to share Desire Map transformative information with her friends.
If you want to get some greatprelaunch bonuses and be able to pay for the program over time, you can do so by purchasing The Desire Map Licensing Program prior to January 6, 2015 at midnight, check out this link to find out the juicy details.
I realize that The Desire Map Licensing Training is an investment, but if you’re looking for a course that teaches you how to teach others how to use their heartfelt desires to achieve their dreams by zeroing in on how they want to feel on a day by day basis, then this course is for you.
If your core desire feelings resemble these, then this program might be for you:
Loving
Giving
Expansive
freedom
Lead
light
Helping
Uplifting
Encouraging
Meaning
guiding
lightworker
Entrepreneur
Creative
Impactful
change agent
Teach
Transforming
Motivational
Patient
Go-getter
yoga
teaching
wellness
Who Is The Desire Map Licensing Program NOT For?
Danielle’s program is not for you if your core desire feelings aren’t to feel:
Entrepreneurial
Business-oriented
Hustler
Giving
Generous
Expansive
Impact
Difference
Keep in mind that you can have feelings such as uncertainty, nervousness and hesitation when making this leap, but deep down, only you can tell if this program is right for you. Honor your intuition and the way that you want to feel.
What Are My Core Desire Feelings For Me and For YOU?
Even if you decide that you don’t want to buy the licensing program, please do yourself a HUGE favor, and work through The Desire Map to identify your core feelings in the various categories of your life that Danielle walks you through.
At the very least, identify what core feelings you want to feel generally speaking.
I will share my core feelings with you.
1. Love
2. Freedom
3. Peace
4. Metamorphosis
5. Expansion
What identifying these core feelings has helped me do is to know even before starting anything on my to-do list whether something will uplift me, do nothing for me or drain me.
Of course I like to do things that uplift me. Especially because I know that if I’m in an uplifted state, I can have the internal integrity to uplift others.
As much as you’d like to think so, you are not a victim of your conditions.
Really, you aren’t.
And more often than not, when you feel the worst in your life it’s not because the external circumstances, are destroying you, it’s because you’re feeling torn emotionally because you’d like to make better, more uplifting and fulfilling choices for yourself and you think you can’t.
I get it, I was once there. And sometimes feel that way from time to time on smaller things, thank gosh!
So feel empowered, clear and aware of your desires.
Honor them.
Your desires are really there to guide your life.
To tell you what would make you happy.
Would you like a magic wand that could provide you with the life of your dreams?
You already have them— they’re your desires.
So, go ahead, buy The Desire Map, honor yourself and your desires, and your life WILL transform.
Why? Because you’ll understand once and for all, that the happiness and fulfillment you’re waiting to get “one day” can be yours “TO day” once and for all.
If You’re New To Danielle and Would Like To Know More About Her Products
Have you struggled with weight at some point in your life?
If you’re like most of us, you have either struggled physically, emotionally or both because of how much food you had or wanted to have.
For most people, food is an issue regardless of their shape.
Think about it. Food is fuel.
But so is gasoline.
But do we ever finish putting gas in our car and immediately start planning when we are going to pump gas in our car again?
No.
At least most people don’t.
But when it comes to food, even if we don’t start thinking about lunch, right after breakfast consciously, some part of us knows that we have to “last” until lunch time.
And even before lunch officially arrives, you anticipate it, or if you’re home, you plan for it by preparing the meal.
Food Is Magnetic
Food is woven beautifully in our culture, traditions, celebrations and every day living. So instinctively, we’re drawn to it because it is one of the most popular social practices we have.
Furthermore, another reason why food has the “pull” that it does, is because of the emotions we attach to food (sometimes enjoyment, sometimes guilt). So we enjoy eating socially. We are by nature, social eaters.
One of the most common eating patterns that brings women a lot of shame is that we sometimes opt to enjoy food in public and sometimes we enjoy food even more in private.
Perhaps our greatest shame comes when we realize that what we eat in private we wear in public.
And more important than that, is that the shame that we feel for how our body looks is evident in our interactions with others. They often take the form of insecurities.
No dress, no suit, no shoes, no makeup and no recent hair make-over can prevent us feeling insecure about our shape.
And what I’ve mentioned primarily focuses on how we look externally.
The saddest thing if if we shine the light internally, when we are having so many issues with our external appearance, it’s almost too scary to go in alone.
But you don’t have to face the reasons you overeat alone, you are not alone in your shame, you are not alone in your dilemma that has been with you ever since someone taught you what “skinny” means and what “fat” means (a word, which by the way, I personally hardly ever use).
In essence, your inside affects your outside and your outside affects your inside. And it’s loving what is when it’s hard to love what is that makes the cycle of weight-loss a challenging one for many people.
There Is Someone Who REALLY Understands What You’ve Gone Through All These Years (Or Decades, Should I Say?)
Jessica Ortner is the most compassionate person I have heard when it comes to talking candidly
about general weight struggles. This automatically makes her an author that you can relate to.
In it, she shares her own personal struggle with weight in a way that makes you feel less ashamed, more proactive and more likely to do something about your weight.
She offers you the tools, primarily tapping, also known as EFT, to explore your weight loss issues with lots of consciousness an self awareness which means, with a need to find the truth.
What Is EFT?
If you’ve become more aware of tapping the meridian points in recent years, it is very likely that it is because of the work that she and her brother Nick Ortner have done to spread the benefits of tapping.
EFT, or tapping, may sound weird, look weird and feel weird, but it is based on sound premises: ancient Chinese acupuncture and modern psychology.
In a nutshell, you have to make 3 relationship changes to see your body transform:
Your relationship to food— Food is not the enemy. Your greatest tools are love and the choices that you make with love (not-self defeat. After all, who would want to improve something that one absolutely hates). Your past struggles with food are not written in stone and you can have a different body.
Your relationship with your body– Yes genes matter, but if you’ve heard of the term, epigenetics you know that in the popular battle between nature (the genes you were “dealt”) and nurture (your lifestyle). Your lifestyle, wins.
The relationship with yourself.
Anybody can recommend a diet…but that’s just a bandage that isn’t addressing the root cause of your perpetual cycle.
Jessica invites you to be your own tapping patient and to approach this weight loss journey, which can be your last, with deep compassion, curiosity, respect, honor, acceptance and my favorite, LOVE.
As I’ve said before on my blog www.loveandtreasure.com, whatever the question, love is the answer.
Love will help you make any change that is worthwhile and lasting.
Does it require effort?
Of course.
Treating, feeding, exercising, learning about nutrition and setting time aside for introspection and tapping with love will be the closest thing that you can do to being at your goal weight.
The fact that Jessica wrote the book, not only because Jessica is so knowledgeable about the subject, but because she had that guts to write it. Weight loss is such a difficult, touchy, exhaustive and almost exhausting subject, that her determination to write about that topic is something that I’m proud of.
I applaud Jessica for her vulnerability in sharing her story, which was not easy for her… but which in my mind, is the most valuable thing in the book. Why? Because unless we get real with ourselves and our own self and body issues, we won’t be able to make any progress… in weight loss, or in anything.
I like that it’s geared toward women, but that it also helps men. As ladies, we know that our issues around body/self image and food are quite different than those of men. Most importantly, it comes down to how we approach this touchy subject, and Jessica approaches it in the best way. There is no author that can talk about EFT and the mainstream women’s weight anywhere near as perfectly as the way that she does.
The quotations and opinions in the beginning of the book are from some of the most respectable and admirable women of our time. What they say about this book is highly positive.
Having an excerpt by Christiane Northrup is very convincing validation for how great the book is and how important the topic is, for every woman.
What I Liked The Least About The Book
It’s not a bad thing, actually. Jessica is so relatable, that I almost wanted the whole book to just be about her journey to self-loving and weight-maintenance.
Julie Daniluk, author of Slimming Meals that Heal, is really knowledgeable. You can tell by the informative chapters in the beginning of the book and in some of her guest appearances on Marilyn.ca, a Canadian show, that you can view on YouTube.
She is known for making healthy food taste like gourmet food
The first recipe that I tried from the book flopped. It was inedible.
The main reason why I wasn’t impressed, and the main reason why you may not like the book as much as you think you will is because since I’m relatively new to the healthy eating practice, I don’t have all of the ingredients that this recipe book calls for even though I’ve shopped primarily at health food stores multiple times during the last few months. In other words, the ingredients are not as ordinary even in health food stores (although the book does provide online resources where you can purchase these less common ingredients). For the record, I’m not someone who is intimidated by long recipes or exotic ingredients. On the contrary, I like that type of challenge. However, what’s discouraging, is that I haven’t been able to make several of the recipes that I’ve wanted to make because I’m missing several ingredients. If it were one ingredient that I was missing, maybe I would still make the recipe, but I want to do the recipes justice by following them to a “t.” The ingredients that Julie uses are not only not that common, but they are presented in a way that I’m not familiar with. For example, “coconut beverage” is a term that is used in many of the recipes. Do you know what that is? Before the book, I didn’t know either.
Julie’s recipes are very popular, but they’re not the type of recipe that I’ll be reaching for often, due to the difficulty in obtaining these ingredients, when the recipes that I have made have not been stellar.
The Alternative Book Recommendation
I’ve seen nutritionists that are more approachable both in their personality and in their way to present food. One such nutritionist is Joy McCarthy. I think that Joy should also be a Hay House author. Joy REALLY enjoys interacting with others and is genuinely transparent. Her joy and excitement for healthy eating is truly contagious. Joys’ book, called Joyous Health: Eat and Live Well Without Dieting, is a book that is easy to read, not intimidating, fresh, full of recipes that have few ingredients, are very doable, are very good, and on top of it all, the recipes, the brand and Joy herself really do encourage the reader to WANT to make the recipes and further adopt healthy eating in their life. They make what could be seen as a sacrifice, a pleasurable pursuit and an exciting exploration.
If you’re in search of a user friendly, informative, nutritious and delicious cookbook, I would highly recommend Joyous Health by Joy McCarthy, instead of Slimming Meals That Heal: Lose Weight Without Dieting, Using Anti-inflammatory Superfoods by Julie. For me, cooking and baking need to be a joyous experience, otherwise, I don’t want to participate in preparing meals for as long and as often as we do. Not because I’m lazy, but because I know that the quality of the food suffers.
If you’re like most people, you probably have self-help books on your shelf that you will read “some day” or that you started reading but didn’t read all the way through. If you’re one of the lucky few who finished these books, you probably can’t remember the top 3 tips from each book (or from your top 3 books) even if your life depended on it.
Let me tell you that when you read Vicki Savini’s book Ignite the Light: Empowering Children and Adults to Be Their Absolute Best, you will be able to name at least 3 tips for years to come. Why? Because you’ll probably will be doing them in your daily life. She has that type of effect. Perhaps you have heard some of the advice that she offers from someone else but never applied it. Hearing it from her, though, and reading about how self-nurturing, soothing, loving and beneficial it is to apply her tools, will make you want to jump on this Ignite the Light bandwagon. The subtitle clearly explains why. Many of us say that we want to be our absolute best, but it takes internal work and internal love to prove that you really are your absolute best. Why? Because you are the one that needs the most convincing. You are the one who needs to hear my favorite message from the book: that you are important. It doesn’t give a hoot what a great person other people think you are. You are important WITHOUT their validation of your importance and without their validation period. You see, that’s something that Vicki does exceptionally well. She makes it clear that the reason most of us were “messed up” and sometimes continue to be messed up is because we continue to look OUTSIDE ourselves for validation.
For how much longer do we have to keep on looking outside ourselves to notice that that nobody “out there” is going to light our path permanently?
They will help, sure. But they won’t be infallible forever. Heck, they won’t be around forever. How much longer will this ineffective, painful, and vicious cycle go on? This is an extremely important question to ask ourselves because we almost inevitably get hurt every time we expect someone to give us the love, worth and importance that we need to be giving ourselves. We become codependent. We become skeptical of ourselves to the point that it paralyzes us. It hurts so much that we try to numb it– but never actually do. We become physically unhealthy because of this. And this shuts us down emotionally. It dims our light to live like this. It really, truly, sadly, does.
My favorite technique that Vicki teaches children from a very young age, is to verbally state what they’re good at/what makes them special and give them random and frequent opportunities for them to be able to do so. Imagine what this type of self-appreciation and confidence can do for the world? If a lot of children do this, there won’t be many adults in the future wondering what to do with their life. This is HUGE! Believe it or not, that continues to be the monster inside many successful people’s heads… they often wonder “who am I to be doing this and getting paid for this?” because they don’t think that they’re enough or that their self-worth is up to par with the contributions that life has lovingly allowed them to make.
As Parents and Caregivers You Are the Best Person to Ignite the Light After You Do Some Work On Your Present and Past
Do you know of someone who thinks that teachers should educate a student completely… manners and all? Or are you one of those people? I don’t recommend that you defer parenting to anyone else. But if you were to make that “mistake” I would highly hope that Vicki Savini is your child’s teacher (but then again, Vicki would only be able to “educate” your child for one year). What I love about Vicki the most is that she teaches what matters. When was such and such a war in history? Who cares!!?? Really! Why the heck does it matter now? But learning the answer to: how can we manage our own internal war, or internal struggle? NOW we’re talking. Thankfully, this book can help you feel emotionally prepared to take on the huge responsibility of parenthood into your own, capable and loving hands.
Why I Recommend This Book
Vicki, given her extended empathy in working on herself, including her imperfect childhood, and her wounded inner child (something that most of us can relate to)… has been able to work with children extensively, effectively, efficiently and in life-altering ways. I could write much more about why I recommend Ignite the Light: Empowering Children and Adults to Be Their Absolute Best but I’ll try to synthesize in the following points as to why you should read the book and try to convince parents and child caregivers (beg if you need to 😉 ) to read this book.
She is one of the few people I know who absolutely loves who she is at the core and can therefore give back in life-changing ways to students in her classroom and camp, parents, caregivers and her readers
She is an elementary teacher, so how she finds the time and energy to do her regular job, fight for the injustices in the educational system currently (which are a lot), go against the flow of traditional public education and teach empowerment the way she does, and be emotionally and professionally available for the parents and children she comes to contact with is something that I truly bow down to. WOW! Truly inspirational. I hope she has been Teacher of the Year at some point because there are former HS students that continue to remember her with immense appreciation. But then again, external validation doesn’t matter. 😉
Despite her greatness she is very human and very relatable, which makes the book an easy and enjoyable read
She knows how to forgive in a way that makes you reconsider your own capability to forgive
She is thankful for the past that she had despite the downsides
She is thankful for the current life that she has despite the downsides
She is generous in the tools that she shares even though I KNOW that she must know a whole lot more. I especially like how the back of the book is a good reference section of tools that you can easily access.
She encourages children to be empathic— imagine what a difference that can make
She encourages children to make choices— to empower their sense of self and strengthen their gift of choice. Even if a child makes “the wrong” choice, she teaches us how we can approach this situation in a non-judgmental way that encourages learning from the experience instead of perpetual condemnation.
She encourages children to collaborate and problem-solve as a community
She encourages children to express how they feel effectively with “I am statements”
She respects children to either talk or not talk about their issues, and honors their choice to live through their issues in a way that works for them.
One of the greatest signs to me of how wonderful a person is, is by how wonderful their children are. And Vicki’s son, Nico, is so emotionally intelligent and aware that it speaks very highly of Vicki. In fact, his light and Vicki’s light are part of a beautiful, connected, luminous chandelier…. or better yet, a candelabra… since they fit perfectly together.
I found many Tweetables (phrases that I’d like to Tweet ) since many of Vicki’s messages were poignant and beautifully stated.
I love the fact that she uses her intuition… since this is an extremely important natural-born asset that we all have and should apply more often in a world that encourages us through all the media and technology to look outside of ourselves for answers and fulfillment instead of inside.
One downside of the book is that there was a bit of repetition with some of the tools. They were mentioned in narration and then in the back of the book to a substantial degree. It would be better for the flow of the book, if the tips were more streamlined. But even the repetition helps internalize the concepts. This is a wonderful book to read if you believe in the potential of a better world, and a better future.
I received this book from Hay House for review purposes.
It’s Your Turn to Share Your Wisdom Treasures
Please leave a comment below answering any of the following questions that you’d like.
Have you read Ignite the Light? If so, what did you like about the book?
What book do you recommend that has the potential to improve the world? Why do you recommend that book?
What do you think that children need the most nowadays?
Gabby’s siteDespite our best intentions, many of us don’t have the time to meditate and we therefore think that we don’t have the spiritual practice that we desire, or worse yet, we don’t have the spiritual practice that we think we “should” have. For that reason, using a book like Gabrielle Bernstein’s April 2014 book, Miracles Now: 108 Life-Changing Tools for Less Stress, More Flow, and Finding Your True Purpose is a great resource for living a more conscious life. What makes this book truly unique is that it not only breaks down spirituality in digestible, actionable chunks for the mere mortal, but it also teaches us spiritual practices that are not usually found in mainstream daily meditation books. Miracles Now is based on Kundalini yoga and meditation, which is different than what we may be used to when it comes to both meditation and spirtuality, but it’s super interesting and effective.
Miracles Now is a book that presents you with 108 spiritual practices that include mantras, meditation poses and mental shifts that remind you in your busy, hectic, often stressful daily life to live from a place of love rather than from a place of fear. As you know, it’s not enough to say that you’re going to live from a place of love without doing anything to perpetuate the love, and without doing anything to eliminate the fear-laden trip-ups that we are exposed to and unwillingly, although sometimes willingly, expose ourselves to. As the subtitle of the book indicates, this book really does help you diminish your stress, live in more flow and continuously be on the path for finding your true purpose. This book, like Gabby’s prior books, is highly influenced by her study of A Course in Miracles (ACIM). In ACIM, it says that miracles are simply a shift of perception… specifically what this means is that miracles naturally occur when we shift pour perception from a horizontal point of view, to a vertical point of view, thus referencing a Higher Power.
What is One of My Favorite and Inadvertent Practices that Resulted from Reading Miracles Now?
I’ve always loved reading with a Kindle, Amazon’s e-reader. (By the way, if you haven’t tried reading with the Kindle because you feel that you won’t enjoy a book as much simply because its not in print form, I recommend that you do try reading with a Kindle because the experience is so great, you’ll hardly miss the paper. And if you don’t want to buy a Kindle, you can actually download a Kindle app for your app devices or simply download the Kindle Cloud Reader on your computer, so you can read electronic books from any computer with internet access). This book, Miracles Now was perfect for reading on a Kindle because each of the 108 practices is so to-the-point, that sharing them on Twitter is a joy. Not only was it a pleasure to share this wisdom with others, but having an opportunity to review these reminders in my own social media account was a breath of fresh air. Sharing this wisdom, makes me feel proud because we all can use reminders for how to live more mindfully.
I’ve read Gabby’s prior books, and done the May Cause Miracles: 40 Day Meditation Challenge, which by the way, I was super proud that I was able to do. However, this newer book, Miracles Now is my favorite. It’s almost like having super delicious spiritual “tapas”/appetizers which seem small… but which leave a huge, lasting and peace-infused impact on my life. With so many things competing for our attention, nowadays, making spirituality practical, is the best way for us to feel that our spirituality and our life align. Why? Because spirituality is much more than listening or reading, it’s about applying it on a day-to-day basis and growing daily because of it.
What’s In It for You?
We all can improve our spiritual practice… at the very least, we can all increase our feeling of connection and especially, our feeling of peace. When you buy Miracles Now, you’ll be able to work on these areas. Additionally, if you so choose, you can participate in the Miracles Now Book Club Power Posse by checking out Gabby’s site . And if you like to get a bonus or a gift from time to time for your purchases, you can even obtain free goodies by visiting http://gabbyb.tv/miracles .
Share Your Wisdom
Given this article, how likely are you to read Miracles Now? How do you think or wish that this book can help you?
The reason I was able to review this book is because I received this book for free for review purposes.
One of the prevalent themes in literature involves the protagonist overcoming obstacles. Chris P. Bacon: My Life So Far is a light and hopeful story based on a real-life pig that has hind legs that don’t work. Chris P. is adopted by his vetenarian, Len Lucero (one of the two authors of this story) who designs a contraption, with wheels, a base and straps so that Chris P. has an easier time moving around. As a result of Len setting up a Facebook page that chronicles Chris P.’s life, many people, including people who have unique physical abilities/challenges have been charmed or inspired by the pig.
This book is really short and is able to maintain the attention of little toddlers, in part because the story is told from Chris P.’s point of view. For older kids, this book might leave them wanting to read and know more. This can be a good thing, especially since there will be a sequel to this book relating Chris P.’s adventures. This book provides what the full title of the book states as “my life so far” and that is, a brief overview of what Chris P.’s life has been since Dr. Len took him in. It’s a cute book.
Personally, I wish there was more depth to this book or perhaps more literary elements that would make it memorable through the use of repetition, alliteration or assonance such as in the case of other books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Additionally, this book could be enhanced by giving Chris P. even more emotional depth so that we get a glimpse not only on his great life, but also his daily challenges. Since there is no conflict, drama, resolution or life-changing lessons to the story, this book can be compared to seeing a snapshot, instead of enjoying a video. Both can be good, but one is definitely more dynamic than the other, and as we all know, children like to engage with dynamic literature, events and people. My favorite Hay House childrens book that is savvy and purposeful enough for adults is Incredible You! 10 Ways to Let Your Greatness Shine Through by Dr. Wayne Dyer. I recommend that you take a look at Dr. Dyer’s book since the prose is great, the illustrations are lovely and the legacy/impact that the book can leave is profound. It’ll be interesting to see what the 2nd Chris P. Bacon book is like.
I received this book for free from Hay House Publishing for review purposes.
Share Your Wisdom Tokens With Us
Have you read or heard about Chris P. Bacon? What do you like about Chris P. the pig or Chris P. Bacon the book? Have your children enjoyed learning about Chris P.?
, which I had heard rave reviews about, made me think that I was going to be blown away with this book. Unfortunately, I wasn’t.
, is a book that is easy to read, not intimidating, fresh, full of recipes that have few ingredients, are very doable, are very good, and on top of it all, the recipes, the brand and Joy herself really do encourage the reader to WANT to make the recipes and further adopt healthy eating in their life. They make what could be seen as a sacrifice, a pleasurable pursuit and an exciting exploration.
by Julie. For me, cooking and baking need to be a joyous experience, otherwise, I don’t want to participate in preparing meals for as long and as often as we do. Not because I’m lazy, but because I know that the quality of the food suffers.
, you will be able to name at least 3 tips for years to come. Why? Because you’ll probably will be doing them in your daily life. She has that type of effect. Perhaps you have heard some of the advice that she offers from someone else but never applied it. Hearing it from her, though, and reading about how self-nurturing, soothing, loving and beneficial it is to apply her tools, will make you want to jump on this Ignite the Light bandwagon. The subtitle clearly explains why. Many of us say that we want to be our absolute best, but it takes 
Book Overview
Additionally, this book could be enhanced by giving Chris P. even more emotional depth so that we get a glimpse not only on his great life, but also his daily challenges. Since there is no conflict, drama, resolution or life-changing lessons to the story, this book can be compared to seeing a snapshot, instead of enjoying a video. Both can be good, but one is definitely more dynamic than the other, and as we all know, children like to engage with dynamic literature, events and people. My favorite Hay House childrens book that is savvy and purposeful enough for adults is 
by Dr. Wayne Dyer. I recommend that you take a look at Dr. Dyer’s book since the prose is great, the illustrations are lovely and the legacy/impact that the book can leave is profound. It’ll be interesting to see what the 2nd 