Intention Archives - Page 21 of 27

Dreamer Highlight: The Creative Chrysalis and Fat Pony Vintage & Art

September 9, 2013 by Lamisha

It has been a few weeks since I last shared a specific Dreamer Highlight post and this particular edition is long overdue. I have had these two wonderful friends and artists on my mind for some time and wanted to share with you their wonderful talents and why I am so inspired by their work.

Amazing Rosary by Kenetha Stanton at The Creative Chrysalis — An amazing Rosary by Kenetha Stanton at The Creative Chrysalis

I first met Kenetha Stanton through a friend of a friend about a year ago and she immediately inspired me to start this very blog. Since then her writing and creativity have blown me away as she continually inspires me whether she is weaving words together on her blog The Kintsugi Life or she is creating new inspirational jewelry. I have watched as her artistry has been taking to new heights in not only her magnificent rosaries, necklaces, earrings, and other pieces, but also as her list of published writing has grown. She is a woman of many talents and I am so happy to watch this artist, coach, writer, and yoga instructor live the life of her dreams as she follows her heart. Please check out her blog The Kintsugi Life where she discusses finding the beauty and strength in the brokenness of life. You can also check out her beautiful Kintsugi inspired rosaries, jewelry, prayer shawls, and so much more in her Etsy shop at The Creative Chrysalis. I have purchased several of her pieces and they are simply beautiful. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

My custom Mosaic from Tori Beth — My custom mosaic from Tori Beth

I am also very excited to share with you an incredibly inspiring, creative, and high-energy friend of mine who I have known for many years. Tori Beth is an amazingly vibrant and creative artist/up-cycler/radio DJ who has created some truly magnificent mosaics (one of which I am so very lucky to own myself). A lover of anything with a story, Tori shares her vintage items and some of her amazing creations on her Etsy page with Fat Pony Vintage And Art. If you like things that have a story you are going to love some of her finds. And if that doesn’t make her incredibly awesome enough, she also loves digging into Earth to see what she can find with her metal detector. You don’t have to know her personally to know that she is a woman who goes where her joy flows, but I assure you when you see some of her awesome pieces like the one featured below, you will know she is a woman living the life of her dreams.

The thing I love about these two incredible women is the fact that they are able to take something broken, damaged, and older pieces to create something new. Kenetha literally creates a beautiful piece of work using her Kintsugi method and Tori takes old, broken items and breathes new life into them. There is something about blending the old and new that is inspiring and reminds me that no matter how old a dream may be, you can always find a way to breathe new life into it.

Another thing I find incredible about these two women is how they have managed to find a way to satisfy their dreams, their creativity, their passions all while not limiting themselves to only one thing. Who says you have to choose just one?? I think if we all listened to this advice, we would have more people living amazingly versatile, exciting, and inspirational lives. Are you one of those people?

I hope you take some time to check out the beautiful work in the links above and support these awesome artists (and friends) and if you know of anyone that you think should be featured in the Dreamer Highlight posts please feel free to pass them along. And if you should find yourself struggling to embrace, celebrate, and live the life of your dreams, hop on over to my “work with me” page or email me at lamisha@lifeoncedreamt.com to schedule a free coaching call.

Intention and Small Actions=Progress

September 4, 2013 by Lamisha

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about how quickly things have happened in terms of my dream of becoming a life coach. Just last night as I worked on getting my new Facebook page up and running, I remembered a time not too long ago when this was just a dream. My coaching business was a thought, a hope, a desire that felt like it was off in the distance somewhere. It wasn’t until I took the leap of faith, that it all became real.

In an instant.

I have seen this phenomenon happen over and over again. It seems that when we make a choice to do something and put even the smallest action into it, things seem to unfold almost magically. The intention and thought have a way of creating a bit of momentum and even the smallest step adds just enough energy to allow everything to align and progress is made. Add a little more action and the pieces continually fall into place.

Is this a formula for guaranteed success? Not necessarily. There are some things that require more intention, a bit more action, and what seems like a lot of momentum…while you are in it. I can tell you there have been many times when I feel like I am standing still in terms of progress and then when I look back on it, I realize I have come much further than I realized. Sometimes you just have to be easy about your dreams.

What I find interesting is how often we hear people talking about setting a goal, creating an action plan, working the action plan, working hard, etc. in order to reach your goals. I think this method works for some people, but I find myself taking score of what I have yet to accomplish. I am constantly looking at if I have arrived in order to move on and if I haven’t, I tend to get discouraged.

I find that setting an intention to do, be, or have something sets the energetic wheels in motion and when you follow your inspiration to the next step because it just feels right, there lies another opportunity for progress. Continue to follow that feeling and you will find yourself much further than you ever thought you could be.

Sometimes you don’t need a step-by-step map of how to get to your dream. With a vision, an open mind, and a little action, you can trust that your intuition and inspiration will lead you to the very next step. And if you aren’t sure where to start, just take a tiny step and watch as your path is illuminated little-by-little.

What can you do today to get you to the very next step? Share in the comments below, I would love to hear your intentions!

Giving Dreams Room To Breathe & Grow

August 22, 2013 by Lamisha

I have seen my fair share of people working hard to have a happy life. There seems to be a universal campaign for accomplishing goals through back-breaking work, blood, sweat, and tears. Many of us have grown up with the idea that if we could just do more by working longer or harder than we would finally reach the platform of success. And while I certainly believe in the benefit of (inspired) action, I feel like something is missing in this formula for a successful life.

People that know me, know that I have always been a doer in life. I have always focused on doing the next thing and looking for the next step in my dreams and only recently have I been able to understand the importance of non-action, and allowing the space for our dreams to breathe and grow.

Not sure what I mean? Let me explain.

When we decide we are going to move forward with a new goal, career, or project typically there is some sort of planning phase. After the planning phase comes the execution. And since we are so accustomed to instant gratification in our everyday living, we seem to be chomping at the bit to make things happen by working long hours and in some cases spreading ourselves too thin. The fear of failing has caused us to overcompensate in the action arena to a point that we never allow ourselves (and our dreams) a chance to breathe.

I know I have struggled with this many times in my life where I want instant results for the work I am putting in, but the reality is things take time.

I have also learned that when I am able to take a step back and stop measuring my progress (or lack thereof in some cases), I find things almost magically happen. The right people flow into my life effortlessly and the next inspirational nugget appears before my very eyes and each time it happens I am reminded of the importance of allowing my dreams to breathe and grow.

I was reminded of that just a few weeks ago.

While I was having a conversation with a friend about some things I needed/wanted to take care of for my business, I mentioned needing to find someone to design my logo. I had actually thought about it several times, but wasn’t trying to make anything happen with it as I had other things that I was working on. About an hour after that conversation I saw a post on FB from a friend of mine that said “Designing a logo!”. I almost fell out of my chair. I couldn’t believe it! I immediately sent my friend a message and inquired about her services and found that not only was it affordable, but she does absolutely amazing work!

Was it just dumb luck? Or, did I allow enough space and time for things to unfold in the most organic and perfect way for me?

I truly believe that by giving my dreams/needs the space they need to grow and evolve, the resources I need will continue to unfold in the most beautiful of ways.

Not sure it will work for you? Try it out!

The next time you find yourself forcing something to happen or working long hours trying desperately to make something happen, take a break. Step back from it and leave it be for a while and open yourself to what you see and hear around you. Just be easy about it and allow your next inspirational nugget present itself to you. I promise you it will.

Have you had something like this happen for you recently? I would love to hear how your dreams are unfolding as you give them room to breathe and grow. Share your thoughts in the comments below!

15-Minute Magic

August 8, 2013 by Lamisha

Within the last week or two I have implemented a practice that has completely changed my daily life. It is a “life hack” I heard about many years ago, but never tried, until a few weeks ago. I applied it to my life in order to create more balance between my full-time job, coaching, writing, and family duties and it has worked wonders. I soon realized this magical practice can even be applied to accomplishing your dreams, 15-minutes at a time.

If you are like me you probably have a laundry list of things to do (including laundry) and some days you aren’t sure how you can fit it all in, let alone make time for you to focus on the one big thing you really want to create in your life. You also know that without that time and space, that thing may never manifest.

So how do you do it without locking yourself in a room for hours on end to finally make some headway?

You break it into 15-minute chunks.

I know you are saying that you can’t possibly get anything worthwhile accomplished in 15-minutes, but believe it or not, you can accomplish a lot in 15-minutes if you are totally focused on the task at hand.

Here’s how it works:

Select something from your to-do list that you just haven’t found the time to do.
image from www.childhood101.com
Set a timer for exactly 15-minutes.
Get to work.
When the timer goes off, stop what you are doing and pat yourself on the back. You have just taken a tiny step toward accomplishing your goals.

Now, at this point if you are really on a roll and you have the time you can reset the timer and go for another 15-minutes and see where that gets you, or you may decide you want to do something else for 15-minutes. The awesome thing about this practice is you can use it for anything. (If you are a parent, this works wonders with children especially when they have chores to do.)

Do you have some follow-up emails you have been meaning to send? Some contacts you have been meaning to look up? Need to research business cards/webpage designers/workshop ideas/need to contact that life coach you have been meaning to hire? Set your timer and go!

You may find some tasks work better with a 30-minute set up and that is ok too. Feel free to mold this practice into something that works for you and your unique situation.

Using this practice allows you to take little steps toward accomplishing your dreams and the more you do it, the more inspired you become. Soon you may find yourself setting the timer for much longer simply because you enjoy working on your dreams. The key is to do a little bit everyday.

When you make your dreams a priority by doing a little each day, you will not only begin to feel better, but you will also see your dreams take shape before your very eyes. Don’t believe me? Try it and leave me a message in the comments below on how it worked for you.

Dreamer Highlight: D. Speller

August 6, 2013 by Lamisha

Wow it seems like August came in and the energy just took off right away! I am a little behind in my Dreamer Highlight post, but I wanted to make sure to leave a little inspiration for you for the rest of the week ahead.

This week’s Dreamer Highlight does not include any links, but my hope is that the story tells it all. D. Speller is a dear friend of mine from college who has inspired me in so many ways over the years. Not only was he an outgoing, courageous, fly by the seat of his pants-type of guy in college, but he never once backed away from an adventure or experience that may add value and meaning to his life.

After graduating from college, he moved to Chicago to live the city life for a few years and to save some money in order to fulfill his ultimate dream of traveling around the world. I never doubted that he would do so, but I never imagined he would set out on an adventure like the one he has had over the years. When he left Chicago, he set out for South America, (Santiago, Chile )to be exact and as I lived vicariously through him, I couldn’t help but wonder where he got the courage and the passion to make his trek all over the world. Traveling to Chicago, South America, Spain, and now to Australia he has become a trailblazer following his heart every step of the way.

Never once asking how he was going to do it, or where he would stay or who he would meet, he trusted his intuition and desire for adventure. He is doing what many people only dream of and his story is an inspiration for us all to follow our hearts.

When we have a desire or a passion that burns within us, we often find ourselves questioning how to do it. Where do we start? What if we fail? What do we need to do to get started?

Some don’t even get that far as they instead put it off for another week, month, or year when they have more money, more knowledge, more inspiration, and more excuses.

Sometimes it is enough to say, “Yes I want to do this, and I WILL.” Setting the intention is sometimes all you need to set the wheels in motion for all the other pieces to fall into place.

What dream have you been putting off for another day? There is no day like the present to get started.

Wanna chat about how I can help you get moving on your dreams? Check out my Jump Start Your Dream program for more info!